Chapter 25: The warning to a friend

With the griffin out of its shell, William had one less worry and one more friend, two friends counting Hagrid who now had no apparent prejudice towards William because of his ancestry.

"Hagrid do you know about cerberus and the legend of the three headed dogs?" asked William as he fed the little griffin.

"The legend among the muggle and the dog said to guard the gates of hell in the mythology of the Greeks? "asked Hagrid to confirm his assumptions, when he saw William nod then he was quiet "Three headed dogs are a rare species, somewhat difficult to care for and even more difficult to tame but as I told you before I've done it before."

Hagrid set two cups of tea on the table handing one over to William "That's exactly the problem."

"What problem?"

"How many three headed dogs are known in the world?"

Hagrid looked at the ceiling as he thought "I think a few thousand or maybe a little less, the truth is it's very hard to find one outside of greece, if you want to have one, I could guide you but it's impossible to get a puppy, even the one I bred is not one hundred percent my own"

"Bearing in mind that the dog you bred is at Hogwarts and these same ones are mainly used to guard treasures then at Hogwarts we have a tempting treasure, if we place things in order then there is only a range of possibilities among them the sword of Godric Gryffindor and the philosopher's stone, the latter is a more viable option" William seemed to be rambling and placing things in order as if it were a jigsaw puzzle.

To Hagrid William's words were like arrows, he didn't have to say the things he kept secret but it was hard to keep silent when everything was being uncovered in front of him.

"It has to be Godric Gryffindor's sword!" exclaimed Hagrid in despair causing his teacup to pour on the table.

"then it's the philosopher's stone!"

Hagrid sighed wearily "why the stone?"

"There are a few reasons, Headmaster Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel have been good friends for many years, they both know about the philosopher's stone and its value, the camera they stole from Gringotts was part of dumbledore's belongings, but there is one thing I'm still not clear on"

"what could it be that's not in your scheme?" asked Hagrid giving up on hiding the secret, William didn't seem to have bad intentions and besides he was just throwing guesses in the air.

"The identity of the thief."

"Anyone wants to have eternal life, you'd be surprised how many wizards want immortality but here at Hogwarts no thief will be able to get in, Dumbledore the strongest wizard of all is at the school, no one would dare go against him" Hagrid spoke with blind confidence and it was grounded but in William's mind that was ridiculous.

"You're right Hagrid but I'm still a little unsure about the situation, Headmaster Dumbledore is the wisest and strongest wizard around that I can't argue with but the fact that you were asked about the three headed dog worries me" William was honest, he knew about the plot but he couldn't reveal everything from the start.

Hagrid had another tea ready on his table to make up for the one he threw on the floor earlier "I was just a gambling traveler with some treasures."

"Eggs aren't easy to come by, no one would give it away to a drunk. Your gambling friend knew about your fascination towards dragons and used it to know everything about your dog, basically he tricked you" William carefully explained what happened so Hagrid would begin to understand the seriousness of the matter "The only people who can know about your love towards dragons must be in the castle, there are a lot of suspects either students or teachers, every single one of them is a suspect"

"Galloping gargoyles!" exclaimed Hagrid placing his hand on his forehead nervous of the situation "But I don't talk to students much, jacob's brother was an exception but he is no longer at Hogwarts"

"Then there are only professors left, you'll have a lot of doubts about that but my guess falls on Professor Quinrrell from the Defense Against the Dark Arts class"

"Professor Quinrrell?!" asked Hagrid in surprise "impossible, it can't be Professor Quinrrell, you saw him yourself barely and he can barely complete a sentence without biting his tongue, I really can't think of a professor, he can't be a professor. I really doubt an insider."

William guessed before starting the conversation, it would be hard to convince Hagrid. A lifetime in the castle and enormous gratitude towards Dumbledore had made him blind, he couldn't doubt the professors, to him everything William said were simply tales from a childish head.

"You may be right" said William finishing drinking his tea "I just should have been paranoid about it, it's obvious that as long as Dumbledore is at the academy nothing untoward could happen."

William gave up on persuading Hagrid, there was no point in continuing with this play, pretending to be a clever boy tying all the loose ends together is exhausting.

After finishing his cup of tea William decided to go back to the castle, it was not yet dark but there was not much to do in the hut, when he got to the door he turned slightly and looked at the giant "Don't let the students come at night, you can't let them see the dragon egg if you want to keep it, that includes Harry and his friend who will spread the information all over the castle. I don't have to explain what will happen to the dragon if the professors ever find out" Dropping his words William left the hut heading for the castle to go to the library.