FicWad

Chapter 10

As January gave way to February, we continued our regular visits to Hagrid's cottage, but were no longer able to skip down the path and hold hands as we'd done the past autumn. We trudged single file along the pathway through the snow, huddled in our heavy winter cloaks.

"Who is it?" Hagrid called when we knocked on his door.

"Harry and Hermione!" Janie shouted.

"Jus' a minute!"

From inside the cabin there could be heard various sounds of things being hurriedly shuffled about.

"Er - hello, you two!" Hagrid opened the door with a wide smile. "Weren't expectin' visitors - what with the weather as it is!" he said brightly.

"It's only a little snow," I replied, pulling off my cloak and hanging it on a peg by the door.

"My! You keep it warm in here!" Janie noted as she hung her cloak beside mine.

"Jus' nice an' cozy," Hagrid smiled again, but we both noticed his furtive glance in the direction of a cast iron cauldron in the fireplace. It was nestled down in the coals - not hanging over the fire.

"What's that?" Janie nodded to the cauldron.

"Nuthin'! Nuthin' at all!"

"Hagrid," Janie sighed, shaking her head at his feeble attempt at deception. "You couldn't lie your way out of a paper sack! Now - what's in the cauldron?"

"Er - jus' between the three of us?"

"Okay," Janie nodded her agreement. I did, too.

"It's a dragon's egg!" Hagrid beamed.

"A dragon's egg!!?" Janie screeched. "Where did you get a dragon's egg!?"

"Shh! A feller give it to me at the pub in town," Hagrid grinned. "Said 'e 'ad ter get rid of it quick, see, 'cause 'e didn' wanna get caught with it an' 'e thought it might be ready ter hatch soon. Told 'im I'd be glad ter take it off 'is hands, o' course! The feller was so grateful, 'e bought me drinks for the rest o' the evenin, 'e did!"

"Hagrid - aren't dragon eggs illegal? Aren't they specifically prohibited by the Ministry?" Janie lectured.

"Er - well - sort-ah," Hagrid admitted with a guilty look. "But I figure I can let Norbert loose in the Forbidden Forest and they'll be none the wiser," his expression turned into a huge grin.

"Norbert?" I had to ask.

"That's what I plan ter name 'im - unless 'e's a she, o' course. Then it'll be Norberta," the half-giant nodded.

"May we see it please?" Janie's innate curiosity got the better of her.

"Sure!" Hagrid smiled like a proud father-to-be. He lifted the lid with some fire tongs and we peered inside. The egg was black with white speckles.

"When will it hatch?" I asked.

"Maybe two or three weeks, I reckon," Hagrid nodded. "Got m'self a book from the library on raisin' dragons," he beamed.

"How big will this dragon be, Hagrid?" Janie grimaced.

"Well, from th' looks o' the egg, I figure it ter be a Norwegian Ridgeback. Them can reach a good size..." he allowed.

"And you plan to keep it here in your cottage?" Janie continued.

"Well - fer a while, at least - until 'e's big enough to take care o' 'imself..."

"Dragons breathe fire, Hagrid," Janie reminded him, "and your cottage is made of wood."

"An' stone..." Hagrid corrected her quickly.

"Right!" she rolled her eyes at him. "So you'll be living in a stone shell with no roof! Brilliant! Might I remind you that it's the middle of winter!" she yelled in frustration.

"It'll be alrigh' - you'll see!" Hagrid countered. "Yer promised not ter tell anyone..." he reminded us hesitantly.

"We won't tell, Hagrid," Janie sighed in defeat. "I just can't see how this won't end badly."

"Maybe yer could learn some fire-proofin' spells," he said hopefully. "Both of yer," he included me.

"Yeah - maybe," I allowed.

I recalled some flame-proof spells from the dueling book, but those were temporary shields to protect a person, not permanent protection for a wood dwelling.


"Sometimes I wonder about Hagrid," I confessed as we made our way back up the path to the castle. "Is there even a brain inside that immense skull of his?"

"He means well," Janie soothed.

"So does Dumbledore!" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yes, but unlike Hagrid, Dumbledore's no fool. That makes him dangerous."

"Janie..." I stopped on the path to study her eyes. "Has the Headmaster been 'penciled in' in the margins of The Book?" I asked fearfully.

"Not yet," she shrugged. "Keep moving," she nudged me forward. "It's cold out here!"

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Valentine's Day was suddenly upon us. It was traditionally a day when gifts were given, and those gifts were invariably candy - unless you were totally smitten with the girl and decided to give her flowers - but Janie and I weren't at that level. Jewelry was right out, of course!

I watched for my snowy owl among the horde that swooped down at breakfast. There she was - unmistakable among the ordinary brown ones. She circled the Gryffindor table waiting for an opportunity to land. Maybe this is what Heathrow would be like without a control tower, I mused, as I watched the owls jockeying for position. Hedwig finally spied her opening and dived down to land in front of Janie, a fact which all of Gryffindor seemed to take notice of.

"Harry!" Janie looked over at me in annoyance. "You know how I feel about sweets!"

"Open it," I nodded to the Chocolate Frog box in her hands.

"A friendship bracelet!?" Janie's surprise was quite satisfying. "Fasten it for me!" she smiled eagerly, holding out her wrist and handing the woven leather bracelet to me.

"These were quite popular in our Muggle primary schools last year," Janie explained as she showed off her gift to Lavender and Parvati, who were craning their necks to see. "All the kids were giving them to each other."

Janie was trying to downplay the significance of my gift and that was fine by me. She knew what it meant and I knew what it meant and that was what was important. The fact that she had slipped her other hand under the table to give my leg a little 'thank you' squeeze assured me that the feeling was mutual.

"Check out the card," I nodded to it, still in the bottom of the box.

"Nicolas Flamel! I've heard of him!" Janie said - a little louder than necessary. "He's a Potions Master. He's mentioned a lot in those Potions books that Dumbledore recommended."

Leave it to Janie to be extremely quick on the uptake. I had asked around Gryffindor for anyone who had a Flamel card that they'd be willing to trade. I finally managed to buy one from Justin in Hufflepuff. I think I paid twice what it was worth, too. The reason I'd included it was so Janie would have an excuse for her sudden increase in Potions knowledge. Her comment was perfect, of course.

It was times like this that made me glad I'd chosen the Hermione Granger strategy. The girl was amazing!

Hedwig was not the only owl to swoop down to the Gryffindor table that morning. Two school owls delivered cards - to Janie and me. We both read our cards and then turned around together to face the Ravenclaw table. Two sets of very attractive eyes were smiling back at us - Cho Chang's and Michael Corner's!



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We were visiting with Hagrid one afternoon and he was telling us about his latest trip to Diagon Alley.

"But Hagrid, if you don't have a wand, how are you able to Apparate there?" Janie asked him. Leave it to her to notice little details like that.

"Well - er - I'm not allowed, strictly speaking, to Apparate, yer see..." he replied nervously.

"How did you manage to get to Diagon Alley, then?" I challenged.

"Well, I could o' used the Floo, o' course..."

"Right..." Janie eyed him suspiciously. "Hagrid, you're too big to fit in most of the Floo fireplaces."

" - Or I could o' took the Knight Bus," the half-giant offered. He sounded defensive, though - like he was hiding something from us.

"What's the Knight Bus?" Janie frowned. She hated not knowing something.

"Wizards' emergency transportation, o' course," Hagrid replied as if it should have been obvious. "Yer stand at the curb an' hold out yer wand - like this," he demonstrated, as if holding out an imaginary torch in his fist, "an' the Knight Bus pulls up an' takes yer wherever yer need ter go. Have some Sickles in yer pocket, mind ya," he warned. "The Knight Bus aren't free."

"But Hagrid, you don't have a wand to hold out," Janie reminded him.

"Well - I - er - I jus' stick out my umbreller," he nodded to it by the door. "Seems ter do the trick," he finished sheepishly.

Janie narrowed her eyes at the umbrella, trying to discern whether it might be magical enough to pass for a wand.

"You gave my cousin a pigtail with that umbrella," I recalled. "The night you told me I was a wizard."

"Let's jus' keep that our little secret, eh, Harry?" the large man gave us both a pleading look.

"Alright, Hagrid," Janie turned away from the umbrella and winked at him.

I nodded my agreement, as well.

"Look here!" Hagrid changed the subject by lifting the lid from his cast-iron cauldron in the fire. "This is the reason I invited yer down here. Norbert's been movin' about some, today. I think he's about ready ter hatch..."

True enough, the egg gave a little lurch.

"See!!" Hagrid pointed excitedly. "See!! I tol' yer!" He reached in and gave the egg a gentle poke with his finger. "OW!" he jerked his hand back and stuck his finger in his mouth. "Tha's a bit warm..."

In response, the egg rolled over and a crack appeared in what was now the top.

"Stan' back now," Hagrid swept us behind his huge body. "Yeh can peek, but I want the first thing he sees to be me. That way he'll know that I'm his mommy," the half-giant explained.

"Are you sure you're not thinking of birds, Hagrid?" Janie protested.

"Birds an' dragons have a lot in common, they do," Hagrid nodded knowingly.

"They do!?" Janie gave him an odd look, which he didn't notice because his full attention was on the egg.

"Sure! They both... um... fly!" He sounded quite pleased with his sudden insight into the nature of all things dragon.

"Oka-a-ay," Janie rolled her eyes in my direction.

I shrugged and turned my attention back to the egg.

It wasn't long before the initial crack was joined by several others that crisscrossed the shell.

"Look!" Hagrid shouted, "There's his li'l beak!"

Sure enough Norbert's snout had emerged, eventually followed by the rest of him. The little guy did look rather cute as he sneezed out a two-inch-long flame, climbed up into Hagrid's outstretched palm, and promptly fell asleep.

"Aww..." Janie sighed.

Hagrid just beamed at the sight in his hand.


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