Chương 51: ITW,H - Chapter 51 - Hagrid Got The Egg

(Word Count: 1, 697)"Hey Ron, It's about time we head over for the Study Group. You coming to join? This time?" Harry asked. Hermione came up beside him, lugging a large bag stuffed with books. Ron scrunched his nose in distaste, not bothering to get up from the couch he was lounging in.

"Nah, I'm good. Exams are still weeks away anyway. You two go on ahead. We can catch up later."

"Alright, then. See you later," Harry said, though he sighed mentally. Ron had been coming less and less to their study group lately, along with Dean and Saemus. They seemed to prefer playing football together, or just playing around in general. He turned to Hermione and took the heavy bag from her, slinging it over his own shoulders.

"Come on, Hermione. Let's go." When they were out of their common room, Hermione hummed thoughtfully.

"You know, it seems like Ron will stop coming to the study group entirely." Harry just nodded.

"Yeah. It seems like if he is in the mood to study, he goes to work on that enchantment kit I got him." The last enchantment kit he had gotten him was the one for his birthday more than a month ago. This time, without Harry adding the subtle compulsion charm, Ron was taking a much longer time to finish it. Though Harry was proud to see Ron continue at it, when he felt like it. At least he didn't drop it entirely. Hermione chuckled darkly, "You don't think he'll fail the exams and have to repeat a year, do you?"

Harry bopped her lightly on the head, but gave her an amused look. She seemed to feel a great deal of schadenfreude at the thought.

"No, Ron's at least smart enough to do some last minute cramming. He'll be fine." They made their way to the study group. This time most of the other members were off doing their own thing, so what few members were coming were meeting at the library. Only Neville, Daphne, Susan, and Padma showed up. Halfway through the allotted time, Harry caught sight of Hagrid trying to be stealthy looking through the bookshelves. Padma noticed him too.

"Is that… Hagrid? I've never noticed him in the library before. I didn't even think he came into the castle, except for meals," She whispered to the rest.

"What do you think he's looking at?" Hermione asked curiously.

"He's looking in the section on dragons," Harry said. He had the entire library's layout and selection of books already recorded in his head. Not the contents of the books, of course, but he knew where to find each book by name.

"I believe he just picked out Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit." Hermione looked at him, exasperated. She was feeling pretty jealous when he had told her of what he could do with his occlumency, so these little reminders just built on that. Daphne gasped in realization, and gave Harry a questioning look. He just gave her a slight nod.

"Why's he looking up dragon's?" Neville frowned, then paled in fright.

"You don't think there's a dragon loose in the forest, do you?" Susan just laughed.

"If there was, do you think he'd be alive to be here?" Neville gulped.

'Looks like Hagrid's got Norbert now. We'll have to go visit him later tonight,' Harry thought, watching Hagrid walk off. There wasn't much else to do in the study group, so it ended pretty quickly after that. Susan and Padma said their goodbye's, while Daphne stuck around. She looked between Hermione and Neville, who had also stayed behind, and gave Harry a questioning look.

"Do they…"

"They don't know, but I wanted to bring them along as well," Harry said. Hermione's eyebrows shot up, and she looked between them, trying to parse out what secret they could be holding.

"I don't know what?" She asked Harry, almost accusatory in her tone.

"Hagrid was looking up how to raise dragons because he got his hands on a dragon egg. It should hatch sometime this week," Harry explained hastily."She was with me when I saw a vision of it happening." Hermione frowned, but nodded. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"We should go visit Hagrid's, then, to get permission to watch the dragon hatch when it's time," Daphne said.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get Tracey. She'll want to see this too!"

"Oh! And I'll go get Ron too! He'll want to see this," Neville said, and he was about to run off.

"Wait! There's no need for all of us to go down there right now. The dragon won't be hatching tonight," Harry said, stopping them.

"Why don't you just give them a heads up. Hermione and I will ask Hagrid for permission."

"Alright, I'll see you later then," Daphne said, and left.

"See you guys later," Neville left as well. Hermione grabbed Harry's sleeve.

"Harry?" Harry looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"I… think I've gotten as far as I can on my own in Occlumency. Can you help me by… you know?" She asked nervously. He gave her a smile.

"Of course I can! We can go to the RoR anytime you want to practice." She sighed in relief, and smiled back.

"Thanks. I'm really jealous, you know? I can't wait to be able to do the same things you can do with your mind. It sounds like cheating!" Harry laughed.

"You know we could have started this months ago, right? She pouted, and lightly smacked him on the shoulder.

"I know that! It's just… embarrassing," She trailed off to a murmur. She blushed and looked away.

"Well, hey. Good news is, that with your understanding of the basics, it won't take you long before you can start pushing back," Harry grinned, and gave her a side hug.

"I won't be digging around past the surface thoughts, Herms." She laughed, and pushed him away.

"Don't call me that!"

"Come on, let's go ahead and head down. They can just meet us at Hagrid's," Harry said. They made their way out of the school, and down the hill to Hagrid's hut. Walking out of the grounds, the change in seasons was obvious. It was a very warm day and flowers were blooming in full force. Coming up to Hagrid's, he saw that all of the windows, which were usually wide open, were all closed and covered in curtains. Harry knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Hagrid's muffled voice came from inside.

"It's me!" Harry called back.

"Oh! Harry! Just a moment!" A series of scrapes and crashes, and Hagrid cracked open the door and peeked through. Hagrid was drenched in sweat, with a towel draped on his shoulder.

"Er… This isn't the best time, Harry. I'm… Um, busy at the moment." Hagrid glanced back inside briefly.

"I know about the dragon egg, Hagrid."

"SSSSSHHHH! Not so loud!" In a panic, Hagrid swung open the door and looked around to see if anyone heard. With the door open, Harry and Hermione were hit with a wave of heat.

"Come inside!" They entered, and they saw a fire roaring in the fireplace. In the heart of the fire was a large black egg.

"How'd ye know about my dragon?" Hagrid asked.

"I saw it in a vision, of course. I was hoping to be able to see it hatch. Would you mind if some of my friends and I come watch when it does? It's not every day we get to see a dragon hatch, after all," Harry said. Hagrid smiled broadly, "Of course not, rare creatures, dragons. Yer welcome to come watch! Just, er… keep it to yerselves, okay?"

"Thanks, Hagrid. Don't worry, my friends and I will keep this to ourselves," Harry said.

"But Hagrid, what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," Hagrid said, pulling a large 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 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 diff'rent eggs. What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them," He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't. She gave him a blank look and crossed her arms.

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she stated flatly. But Hagrid too caught up in his excitement and just hummed merrily, and grabbed some more wood to stoke the fire.

"Say, Hagrid," Harry asked, "When do you think it'll hatch?"

"Oh, only a couple o'days left! Should be by the end o' the week!" Hagrid said.

"Don' worry, I'll send ye a letter when it happens!" They were soon back in the castle, where they were ambushed by Neville, Ron, Daphne, and Tracey.

"Well?" Tracey asked excitedly.

"How'd it go? Did he say we can come? When will it hatch?" Daphne pulled her back, "Not so loud, Tracey. We don't want this spreading around." Ron took Tracey's place.

"Well? What kind of—"" Muffliato!" Harry quickly casted, so no one else could happen to pass by and hear.

"—dragon is it? What color was the egg?" Ron finished asking.

"It's a Norwegian Ridgeback," Harry answered.

"And let's keep this between us, okay? No one else can know, or Hagrid will be in big trouble." Ron whooped in excitement.

"A Norwegian Ridgeback? Those things are rare! My brother, Charlie, works at a dragon reserve, and he says they've only got one of them!"

"When will it hatch?" Neville asked.

"Well, Hagrid says it'll hatch before the week is out. He'll send me a letter when it starts, and I'll send you guys a message as soon as I get it." Ron sighed wistfully, "Man, I can't wait. I've never seen a dragon in person, you know? My Mum and Dad took Ginny to see Charlie at the reserve, but I've never been." Harry patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, when it hatches, just don't let it bite you."