Chapter 85

"Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. What did the stranger look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid while stoking the fire, "he didn' take his cloak off. It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head, that's the pub down in the village. Might 'ave been a dragon dealer. We talked abou' wut I did 'ere at Hogwarts and what animals I've 'andled."

'Damn it!' Harry thought. Even the dog wasn't a worthwhile protection now. The stranger was sure to have been either Quirrell or Voldemort. And the only thing stopping them now, was Snape's trap and Dumbledore's presence in the school.

Accurate deduction from given facts was made, so +1 to Int!

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione, oblivious to the connections Harry had made.

"Well, I've been doin' some readin', said Hagrid, 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 I 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."

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house!" Hermione pointed out.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.

Harry decided that it was time to intervene. Harry could be harmed both physically and legally if someone found out about this. He owed it to his friend to stop him from doing this. He flipped through the book looking for something that'd help. It didn't take long for him to find it.

"Hagrid…You're hurting it."

That got Hagrid's attention. "Say wha' Harry?"

"I said you're hurting the dragon Hagrid. It says in this book that dragon's mothers breathe fire on them. That's dragon fire Hagrid. More than a hundred times hotter than a house fire. That's beyond hellfire level stuff. The baby dragon could hatch up all crooked or even dead if you keep trying to hatch it as you've been doing," Harry pointed out.

"Give that to me!" Hagrid snatched the book from Harry and read the paragraph about improper hatching. His eyes teared up.

"Hagrid, we've got to get this egg to a proper dragon handler," Hermione said worriedly, "Harry! Ron's brother is a dragon handler isn't he? I bet he wouldn't refuse if you wrote to him."

Hagrid looked at him hopefully, and Harry agreed.

The next day, Harry had asked Ron for Charlie's owl post address, giving the excuse of asking some questions. He'd sent off a letter to him via owl, pleading on Hagrid's and his own behalf. Then all there was to do was wait for the reply.

Soon, the classes started to heat up real good, with the teachers starting to teach faster and faster in anticipation of the end of the first term. It was a few days before they received a reply from Charlie.

Harry, Hagrid and Hermione huddled together around the fire together to read the note.

Mr. Potter,

Thanks for the letter, and I'd be glad to take the Ridgeback egg, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Every Hogwarts alumnus that's here in the preserve likes Hagrid, and my friends do too, but they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the dragon egg up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take it away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Yours truly,

Charlie Weasley

P.S. Please keep Ron out of this. Plausible deniability and all that. Destroy this letter.

It was with some difficulty that Harry later convinced Hermione that he would need to handle this alone and that she'd only slow him down and make the entire thing even more risky for all of them.

And then the night came. It was a very dark and cloudy night and Hagrid had the egg packed up in a warm container, all ready. Harry carried the heavy container all the way into the castle, till he was out of sight of the half-giant's hut. Then he called for Hedwig, who flew quietly out of the forest and grabbed onto his shoulders, flaming him with the egg straight to the tallest tower, the location of which Harry had her visit and memorize the night before.

Once there, he immediately sent Hedwig back to the Ravenclaw Tower, not wanting her to be seen or somehow sensed by any of Charlie's friends. It was incredibly cold, so he pulled out his wolfskin jacket and put it on before settling down for a long wait.

Out of sheer boredom, he started dropping into Sneak mode and out, trying to level up that skill.

Ping!

Skill leveled up due to repeated use!

Sneaking, Lv-11(21%)

Allows you to sneak up on someone.

60% chance of not getting caught.

60% chance of critical strike.

About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot, not asking any questions and not being unnerved despite Harry's jacket which made him look much taller and concealed his face in shadows. They showed Harry the harness they'd rigged up so they could suspend Norbert's box between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then shook hands with him, and at last, the dragon was going off into the night…going…going…and gone.

Suddenly a window popped up.

Hostile detected behind you!

"Magical Law Enforcement! Stay right where you are and do not move." Harry froze, cursing himself for not being aware of his surroundings as he watched the dragon disappear into the clouds.

"Slowly turn around." came the order from the Auror.

Harry slowly turned around. The Auror was female and didn't seem to be much older than the seventh years that Harry had seen in school. She was pointing a wand towards Harry, the tip of which was glowing an ominous red.

She kept the wand pointed at him and came closer to him, and with her free arm patted his arms and legs, checking for any hidden weapons. Finding nothing, she pulled on the hood of his jacket. It refused to come off.

Harry absently noted that this must be the Trainee Auror Tonks that Dumbledore and Fudge were talking about on the day of his guardianship meeting. She was supposed to come to Hogwarts soon, but Harry hadn't expected her to be here at midnight!

Angrily, she snapped at him, "You're coming with me. Professor Dumbledore will be interested in whatever you were doing here. Take off the hood. Now!"

Harry had never been more thankful for his wolfskin jacket's identity hiding properties than he was now. He activated his bloodlust skill and put it into his voice "Let me go."

The pink haired girl flinched unnaturally and stumbled back, and Harry frowned. This wasn't his magic. Something was wrong with the Auror. But he didn't have time to mull on it. Using the moment's distraction to twist on the spot and take a running jump straight off the tower, Harry slipped into an ID mid-air, managing to escape.

Nymphadora Tonks stood frozen to that spot. She had recognized that voice.

Harry stared at the letter in his hands. It was the twenty third of November, and apparently, telling Malfoy to go report to his father that he had Harry's trust was having unforeseen consequences.

HP,

I have passed on to my father what we had discussed I would pass on. His reply was positive and he has asked me to give the following message to you at an opportune moment. He had wanted me to give it to you at the start of Christmas break to catch you off guard, but I figured a month's time should help you prepare. Here it goes,

Heir Potter

With great honor, we would like to request for your presence on the Christmas evening this year for the Annual Malfoy New Year's Ball.

The venue for the said event will be at the Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire and dress code will be formal robes. We wish that you will find time for you to be present on the party. Please let us know whether you can or cannot join us for whatever reason.

Hoping to receive an acceptance letter at your earliest convenience and to see you in the ball.

Best Regards,

Lucius Malfoy

Head of The Most Noble House of Malfoy

I recommend you accept. The party won't be very interesting, but many high ranking officials and powerful people would be present and would want to meet you. Remember, should father realize that you are unsympathetic to his cause, he will destroy your reputation amongst the upper echelons of the ministry and try his best to eliminate any possibility of you ever becoming a political enemy, so I recommend you practice your act in front of a mirror beforehand.

I will warn you Harry, my father is not an easy person to fool. From what I've been seeing, you intend on playing the political field and while your ambitions are not yet known to me, throwing my lot in with someone the likes of you is not the worst I could do.

Oh, and your so-called 'fun spoiling' in the first flying class has made you a bit unpopular with a lot of first years of my house. I will not be able to talk to you in public for a while until all this dies down. If you need to contact me, do so by owl.

DM

P.S. The caretaker IS a squib. I'm tempted to be angry, but honestly that was positively Slytherin. Don't screw it up at the ball and I will let this one slide.

Sighing, he put the letter into his inventory.

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