"Is Hagrid even home tonight? His house looks really dark," Ron says, pointing to Hagrid's house. I have to agree; it looks like he's not home. There is no light anywhere in his house.
"He's always home. Have we ever really seen him outside the castle grounds?" Hermione asks.
The wind whistles through the trees. It's finally nice enough outside not to wear a scarf and a coat every time I go outside or to the Dungeons. Now, I wear my thin Hogwarts robes, which keep me warm enough.
I hear something howl in the Forbidden Forest. I shudder, remembering the incident only a few days ago.
Ron knocks on Hagrid's door. Hagrid's dog Fang barks loudly enough to probably summon Filch. To our surprise, Hagrid opens the door.
"Hagrid, we have something to tell you...," Harry starts.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I'm in no state teh ente'tain tonight," Hagrid says, beginning to shut the door.
"We know about the Sorcerer's Stone!" all of us shout at the same time, just like we rehearsed on the walk there.
"Oh, then. Come in," Hagrid says, pulling the door open again. Hagrid looks around outside for something while we make ourselves comfortable. Fang sits on Hagrid's chair, drooling something awful. A cauldron is boiling over the stove. A pair of plants snap in the corner.
Hagrid comes back in and slams the door. He turns the lock on the door.
"So, whaddya know?" Hagrid says in a defeated tone, not quite meeting our eyes.
"We think that Snape's trying to steal the stone!" Harry says.
"Snape? Snape is one o' te teachers protectin' te stone!" Hagrid explains.
"Well, what if he gets past Fluffy? He certainly could, he probably knows how!" I say. "After all, he's 'protecting' it," I say sarcastically.
"No, not a soul knows how 'cept me and Dumbledore. And I know 'e wouldn't stand a bloody chance!" Hagrid says. His face suddenly falls. "I shouldn'ta said that," Hagrid shakes his head, realizing his mistake. Hagrid mutters a few choice words under his breath.
I can hear a rattling noise coming from the cauldron on top of the stove. Hagrid picks up something out of the cauldron with his potholders and lays it on the table. It is a speckled egg.
"I know what that is!" Ron says, a smile on his face. "Hagrid, how did you get one? Dragon breeding is illegal!"
That very same blackwood wand in your possession killed the descendants that outlawed dragon breeding.
"Stop," I think to myself. "It's over with now. Destroyed. No need to think about it anymore."
But something still didn't add up. But I couldn't figure out what.
Hagrid drops the lid on the ground, startling me. "I won te dragon off a stranger I met at te pub last night! He seemed excited to get rid o' it though," Hagrid pipes up with apparent joy in his voice.
The egg begins to splinter. Cracks appear in the egg. All of a sudden, the entire egg cracks, sending pieces flying around Hagrid's hut. I pick a few pieces out of my hair that stuck.
A creature with large eyes and tiny wings sits where the egg once was.
"Hagrid, is that a dragon?" I ask. I've never seen one before, but Dora told me all about them. She really likes dragons.
"That's not just any dragon, that's a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie works with these dragons in Romania!" Ron explains, standing up to get a better look at the dragon.
Hagrid nods. "Oh look, he knows his mummy! Isn't 'e beautiful?" Hagrid strokes the dragon, while the dragon spins in circles. "Hiya Norbert!"
All of us give him a look.
"Well, it's gotta have a name, ya know! Yes, 'e likes his name!" The dragon suddenly sneezes, sending fire at Hagrid's bushy beard.
"Ooh, ow, ooh!" Hagrid exclaims as the fire hits his beard. He uses his potholders to extinguish the fire.
"It'll hafta be trained, o' course," Hagrid states, while the dragon continues to spin in circles. He continues to stroke Norbert while he purrs. Harry reaches his hand toward the dragon to pet it.
Fang whimpers and dashes toward the window, nearly crashing into a blue-colored chest below the window.
"Oh, Fang! It's justa bloody animal," Hagrid says to Fang, standing up. Hagrid suddenly looks out the window. "Who's that?" he says, pointing toward the window.
I turn around to see a rush of blonde at the window. Even though he wasn't there for long, it was long enough to be identifiable.
"Malfoy," all of us say.
"Oh dear," Hagrid says.
==========
"Oh, we are going to be in so much trouble!" Hermione panics. "Malfoy saw the illegal dragon! How can we explain that away?"
"Don't worry about that one right now," Harry says. "We could just say that it was something else, like one of those plants that we learned about in Herbology."
Hermione buries her head in her hands. "I don't want to get Hagrid in trouble!"
"Me neither," Ron says, shaking his head. "But how are we going to get back to the common room without going past Professor Mcgonagall's room?"
"Oh wait! I know another way to the common room!" I say. "Granted, it might take an extra half hour, but it's better than nothing!"
"Fair trade, but how do we get there?" Ron asks.
"At this corner, take a left instead of a right. That way, we will avoid most of the classrooms on the second floor," I say.
I can hear footsteps somewhere to the right. Hermione panics again.
"Wait, you're the same person who got lost on the way to the mirror. How do we know that we won't get lost again?" Ron asks.
"It was dark out that day, and it was a way I had never gone before," I reply. "This is different."
"It's dark out today too! The last thing we need is to sleep on the Quidditch Pitch tonight cause we can't find the bloody common room!" Ron yells.
All of us shush him immediately.
"Do we go past the dungeons?" Harry asks.
"No, but..." I trail off as Professor Mcgonagall suddenly appears in front of us. All of us gasp simultaneously. Her glasses sit low on her face and she isn't wearing her usual green robe. She gives us all a pointed look.
"Good evening," she says abruptly. "Come with me," She ushers toward the classroom on her right. My eyes dart toward movement outside the classroom.
None other than Draco Malfoy appears at her side, smirking.
YOU ARE READING
Twice Chosen | Esmerelda Potter
Fanfiction[BOOK 1] ❝ I love you both so much! Please, be strong. See you soon. ❞ These were the last words Lily Potter spoke to her twin children the night she was murdered. Harry and Esmerelda Potter are twins, separated after the tragic incident as young...
