To be Me, Amie (Harry Potter fan-fic) Book 1 COMPLETED

More trouble

The following day was much the same. Amie was quite lost in thought, but she wasn't unreachable. She felt as if she had forgotten something important, but she couldn't figure out what it could be. Amie came to the decision that she wouldn't brood on it, since it would only make her head hurt.

The continuing week Amie noticed two things. The first was that Quirrell was tougher than he looked. Even though it seemed that Snape had threatened him, he didn't look as if he had cracked completely under the pressure yet. He did, though, look paler and thinner than before. The second thing she noticed was that whenever Malfoy was around, he would be staring at her. And even if he didn't glare at her, she did enough glaring for the both of them. If looks could kill, Malfoy would have died too many times to count. Malfoy looked as if he wanted to say something, but he never did. As the weeks dragged on, Amie busied herself with schoolwork to keep her head from spinning with unanswered questions. Hermione did the same, but she went the next step and drew study schedules for them. Amie really appreciated it, but she was doing perfectly fine on her own. Hermione did not make schedules for Harry and Ron, but she kept nagging them to make schedules themselves. The three of them constantly bickered about it, and Amie only stepped in as peacemaker when she thought it was getting ridiculous. One afternoon when the four of them were sitting in the library doing their homework, Harry looked up from his book and spotted Hagrid.
"Hagrid!" he exclaimed, making Amie and the others look up. "What are you doing in the library?"
"Jus' lookin'" Hagrid answered, but he looked like he was hiding something behind his back. "An' what're you lot up ter?" he asked them, obviously changing the subject on purpose. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicholas Flamel are yeh?"
"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago." said Ron. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St--"
Amie quickly shouted 'RON!', while Hagrid looked around, shushing him.
"Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?" Hagrid said angrily.
"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact" said Harry. "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy--"
"Honestly Harry, you're as stupid as Ron!" Amie muttered.
"SHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen -- come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell you anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed to know. They'll think I've told yeh--"
"See you later then." said Harry happily, and Hagrid walked off.
"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Ron, go check the section he was in." Amie comanded, punishing him for being stupid. Surprisingly he just did as he was told.
"Dragons!" Ron whispered when he came back, slamming a bunch of books on the table. "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."
"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him." said Harry.
"But it's against our laws." said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden -- anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."
"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" asked Harry.
"Of course there are, Common Welsh Green, and Hebridean Blacks. The ministry has a job of hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget." Ron explained.
"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.
 "Well, if you ask me," Amie spoke up. "I think that Hagrid has somehow got a dragon egg, and he will be in so much trouble if he doesn't get rid of it."
"Let's hope that's not the case." Harry said worriedly.

 When they went down to Hagrid's hut an hour later, it looked empty, except for the smoke from the chimney. Hagrid had closed the curtains, and when they knocked on the door Hagrid asked who it was before letting them in. It was so hot inside the hut, that Amie immediately began to sweat. There was a fire blazing in there, even though it was quite a warm day outside. Hagrid made tea, and offered them sandwiches.
"So -- yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid asked when they sat down at the table.
"Yes. We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."
"O' course I can't, Harry." Hagrid said, frowning. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone is here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts -- I s'ppose yeh worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."
"Oh, come on, Hagrid,  you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here." Hermione flattered him.
"Yeah, Hagrid." Amie continued on. "We only wondered who else helped protecting the Stone. We wanted to know who else Dumbledore trusted with something this important, apart from you."
They could see Hagrid swelling from their praise. Harry and Ron beamed at them.
"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... Let's see. He borrowed Fluffy from me, then some o' the teachers made enchantments. Professor Sprout -- Professor Flitwick -- Professor McGonagall -- Professor Quirrell -- an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."
Amie felt her jaw drop, that's not good.
"Snape?" Harry asked, shocked.
"Yeah -- yeh're not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."
"Honestly, Hagrid. If one of the teachers were trying to steal it, they would probably want to be one of the ones protecting it, that way you can learn about the other teachers enchantments easily." Amie said knowledgeably. Hagrid just looked at her dumbfounded, before Harry broke the silence.
"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" he said anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"
"Not a soul knows except me and Dumbledore." said Hagrid proudly.
"Well, that's something." Harry muttered to Amie, Hermione and Ron. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."
"Can't, Harry, sorry." Hagrid said, glancing at the fire. Amie looked around him and saw, underneath the kettle, a huge black egg. Her heart sunk; she was right.
"Hagrid -- what's that?" Harry exclaimed.
"Ahh.." Hagrid said, fiddling with his beard. "That's, er..."
"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" asked Ron, crouching down by the fire to get a closer look. "It must have cost a fortune."
"Won it. 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, ter be honest."
"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I've bin doin' a bit o' readin'." said Hagrid, and pulled out a book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library -- Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit -- it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on them, 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 diff'rent eggs -- what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."
Hagrid looked really pleased, but Amie was shocked. Those dragons get really big!
"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house." Hermione argued.
Hagrid, however, wasn't listening. He was humming and stroking the fire happily. It was no point trying to talk him out of it, so now they had him to worry about too.

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A few days later, Harry got a letter during breakfast. It was from Hagrid, and stated that the egg was hatching. Ron wanted to skip class, and frankly, so did Amie even if she didn't say so. Hermione would hear nothing of it, though.
"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"
"Shut up!" Harry hushed Hermione, and Amie turned to see Draco standing a few feet away, a smug expression on his face. Amie gave him a death glare before turning her back on him. She only just caught the hurt expression flashing on his face.
Hermione and Ron argued all the way to Herbology, and Hermione finally agreed to go down to Hagrid's during break. After the class ended, the four of them hurriedly ran down to the hut. Hagrid greeted them with saying that it was almost out. The egg was on the table and had huge cracks in it. There was a funny noice coming from it, something was moving inside of it. Suddenly there was a scraping noise, and the egg opened. The baby dragon plopped out, looking quite like a black umbrella. It sneezed, and a couple of sparks flew out from the snout. Amie almost wanted to say 'aaaw', but she knew that was stupid. It wouldn't be that cute in a few weeks time.
"Isn't he beautiful?" said Hagrid, reaching out to stroke the dragon's head. It snatched at Hagrid's fingers, showing that he wasn't one to mess with.
"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid lovingly. Is he crazy? Amie wondered.
"Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" said Hermione anxiously.
Hagrid had just opened his mouth to answer when his face paled. He ran from his seat to the window. Amie bolted to the door, and Harry soon followed when Hagrid said it was a kid. There was no mistaking that familiar blonde hair. Draco bloody Malfoy had seen the dragon.

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The next week, Amie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent most of their time down at Hagrid's. Malfoy hadn't told anyone yet, but his smug face didn't bode well. They were trying to get Hagrid to set the dragon free, but he wouldn't listen to them. The dragon, which Hagrid had named Norbert, had grown three times in size since the hatching. Hagrid spent all of his time with Norbert, so his gamekeeping duties were greatly neglected. One evening when they sat down at the hut, Harry had a great idea. They would send the dragon to Charlie, Ron's older brother that worked with dragons in Romania. Hagrid was reluctant at first, but he agreed in the end, understanding that it wouldn't be safe with the dragon there. Ron decided he would send Charlie a letter. The next wednesday, Amie, Harry and Hermione sat by the fire in the common room at midnight, when Ron came in and took off the invisibility cloak.
"It bit me!" he exclaimed, showing them his bloody hand, wrapped in a handkerchief. He had been down at Hagrid's, helping feed Norbert. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."
"He certainly has gone mad then. Ron, I think Norbert's fangs are poisonus, too." said Amie. There was a tap on the window before anyone could say anythng.
"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, jumping up to retrieve her. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"
They put their heads together and read the note, and Amie was relieved that he could take the dragon. Some friends of Charlie was coming to the tallest tower at midnight this Saturday, to take Norbert away for good. They decided Harry and Hermione would take Norbert under the invisibility cloak.

The next morning though, Ron's hand had swollen so it was twice as big as normal. By the afternoon his hand had turned green, so he had no choice than to go to the hospital wing. They went down to see him, and he talked about Malfoy coming to have a good laugh at him. He threatened Ron that he would tell the matron what really bit him, since he had said it was a dog. Amie snorted loudly and very unlady-like at that.
"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday." Hermione comforted him. But it didn't comfort at all.
"Midnight on Saturday!" he said hoarsely, sitting bolt upright and starting to sweat. "Oh no oh no -- I've just remembered -- Charlie's letter's in the book Malfoy took. He's going to know we are getting rid of Norbert."
They didn't have the chance to answer him before Madam Pomfrey made them leave. They decided to risk it, though, and went down to Hagrid to tell him about Charlie.

Before going to bed that Saturday, Amie wished her friends 'Good luck', hoping that they wouldn't get in trouble. Knowing them, they probably would. It took her ages to fall asleep, and when she did, she was in that half-dream, half-reality state again......

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It was really hard and really long, but I got it done, anyways. Next upload, I don't know perhaps Friday or Saturday. No later than Sunday. What did you think about the chapter? I wrote it pretty much like the book, and I'm sorry 'bout that. What do you want Amie's vision to be about??? Comment! Bye! :)

EDITED 17/1-2013