If Draco had to blame anyone for the detention they received, he would have to blame Hagrid. Honestly, what kind of person wanted to keep a dragon in their house (if that's what you could call that thing he lived in.)
Their visit started off simple enough. Harry was still stuck on the idea that it was Snape who wanted the Sorcerer's Stone. Potter had drilled Hagrid for all the information he had regarding the stone, where it was, and what else was guarding the stone. Thankfully, only Hagrid himself knew how to get past Fluffy.
"Hagrid," Harry finally said in slight annoyance, "can we have a window open? I'm boiling."
"Can't, Harry, sorry," Hagrid had told him. Hagrid, not so subtly, glanced over at the fire as though it held the answers.
"Hagrid–what is that?"
Draco took a step closer to the fire. Inside of the fire, underneath the kettle, was huge, black egg. "Ah," Hagrid murmured nervously. "That's–er..."
"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Ron wanted to know, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. Draco really couldn't believe it. It really couldn't be what he thought it was. "It must have cost you a fortune."
"Won it," Hagrid said excitedly. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it to be honest."
"What on earth are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Draco said flatly. Hagrid was a fool for thinking he could keep a dragon there. It was illegal. No wonder the person he had been playing cards with wanted to get rid of it.
"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," Hagrid admitted, pulling a large book from under his pillow out for them to see. "Got this outta the library–Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit–it's a bit outta date, o' course, it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here–how ter recognize different eggs. What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare."
On one level Draco was proud of Hagrid. He honestly didn't know the half-breed could read. Perhaps, the material he was not reading was the best and why he was reading wasn't opportune. But at least the half-giant was reading. Perhaps, they could work on his diction next. Draco cringed every time Hagrid said "ter" instead of "to."
"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," Hermione said dryly. But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was stoking the fire, happily awaiting the arrival of the dragon.
The dragon hatched a few days later. It sneezed out a couple of sparking and looked towards Hagrid. "Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid said quietly. Draco had to admit the baby dragon was alright, but he certainly didn't condone Hagrid keeping it around. "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!"
Draco shook his head. "That dragon's illegal, Hagrid," he stated. "There's a reason you're not supposed to have dragons in your home. You're going to be fired. Literally." But Hagrid was too consumed with caring for the dragon to listen to Draco.
They needed to get this dragon away from Hogwarts. Dragons knew that however much Hagrid wanted to keep the little creature, it wasn't going to end well for him.
"Hagrid, what's the matter?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains–it's a kid–he's runnin' back up ter the school." Draco and Harry bolted out the door and see who it had been. Draco knew immediately. It was Blaise. He had seen everything.
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Their plan was fairly straight forward. They were going to take Norbert (a silly name for a dragon, Draco decided) to the Astronomy Tower under the Invisibility Cloak. Charlie's friend would be by to pick up the dragon and take him far away from Hogwarts. Ron wouldn't be going with them, as Norbert had taken a nice bite out of his leg.
YOU ARE READING
The Brave at Heart
Fanfiction"He could only imagine what his father was going to say when he heard. Oh, he had really done it this time. His father had once told him he was a disgrace to the Malfoy name and now he really was. It wasn't supposed to have gone this way. He was sup...
