Fire Dragon Trouble (Part 1)

Elsewhere, Harry's trio was quietly discussing Hagrid in the Public Lounge.

So far, the worst-case scenario had come to pass.

Hagrid really had raised a dragon, and worse still, Malfoy had seen the hatchling emerge from its egg.

During this time, Malfoy kept looking at the three of them with a malicious smile, leaving them at a loss.

Fortunately, they had managed to talk the irrational Hagrid down and persuade him to let Ron's brother Charlie look after the hatchling.

All they needed to do was put the hatchling into a wooden crate tonight and carry it to the top of the Astronomy Tower, where Charlie's colleagues would take it to Romania on Flying Broomsticks.

"Don't worry too much, Hermione..." Harry unusually tried to comfort the anxious young witch. "Once tonight is over and we've safely sent Norbert away, whatever Malfoy says will be useless. Who would believe him?"

"Exactly!" Ron nodded heavily. "Every time I see Malfoy's smug face these past few days, I've wanted to punch him."

"He even came to borrow a book from me today. But I think he was clearly just here to mock us..."

"Did you lend it to him?" Harry asked.

"Of course I did," Ron replied. "I needed to keep him calm, didn't I? What if he really went and reported us to the Ministry of Magic?"

Hermione closed her book and confirmed it with Ron once again. "It's midnight tonight, right? That's what the letter said, isn't it?"

"You've asked several times already," Ron answered helplessly. "Yes, that's right. If you're still worried, I can show you the letter again..."

As he spoke, he opened his textbook, then suddenly froze under Harry and Hermione's gazes.

"Oh no..." He looked up in horror, his voice hoarse. "I just remembered. I left the letter inside the book..."

Hermione's eyes widened as she asked incredulously, "Don't tell me it was the book Malfoy borrowed!"

"I'd like to tell you it wasn't, but it really was..." Ron pulled a miserable face, while Harry and Hermione let out a groan at the same time.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told them. "We don't have time to send another owl to Charlie. This is our only way to get rid of Norbert. We have to send him away tonight..."

"But Malfoy won't let us off..." Hermione said pessimistically. "If he reads the letter, he'll know this is his last chance to expose us!"

"Don't forget, we have the Invisibility Cloak," Harry reminded her. "Malfoy doesn't know we have it."

"Harry's right. No matter how clever they are, they'll never guess we can turn invisible," Ron quickly agreed.

That night, when the three of them went to find Hagrid under the Invisibility Cloak, they found Fang sitting properly in front of the hut's door, his tail still wrapped in bandages.

With tears in his eyes, Hagrid put the hatchling into the wooden crate. He was nearly sobbing as he said goodbye to Norbert inside. "I packed you some rats and brandy. Eat if you get hungry on the way."

His voice was hoarse and low. Turning to the three after they lifted the Invisibility Cloak, he said, "I also packed his teddy bear, so he won't get lonely during the journey..."

A loud tearing sound came from inside the crate. Hermione guessed the teddy bear had fulfilled its purpose ahead of schedule.

"Goodbye, Norbert!" Hagrid began to cry. "I'll come visit you. Don't forget me..."

Harry's trio felt sad at their parting too, but it was already very late, and they could not delay any longer.

Harry stepped forward and covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak. The three of them crawled beneath it as well. Hermione took out her wand and used the Levitation Charm to raise the crate, while Harry and Ron stood ready to carry it at any moment in case Hermione ran out of magic.

They had no idea how they managed to carry the crate to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Every step felt like torture.

They even had the misfortune of running into Peeves while climbing the long staircase.

He was carrying a bucket and brush, smearing oil across the steps while humming some unknown tune. Harry's trio had to exert nearly all their strength to avoid being noticed.

"Just hold on a little longer. We're almost there," Harry panted as he painfully reached the corridor beneath the tower's summit.

A sudden noise came from ahead, startling them so badly that they nearly dropped the crate. Fortunately, they remembered they were invisible and quickly retreated into the shadows, carefully watching the spot only a dozen steps away.

Two dark figures were struggling with each other, one tall and one short, with a lamp flickering faintly beside them.

It was Professor McGonagall. She wore checkered pajamas and a hairnet, and was tightly gripping Malfoy's ear with one hand.

"Detention!" she shouted sternly. "Twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around the castle in the middle of the night—what did you think you were doing?"

"No, Professor, listen to me! Harry and the others are coming. He's got a Fire Dragon!" Malfoy argued desperately.

"Nothing but nonsense. You can't even make up a convincing excuse! Come on, you're going to see Snape. Let's see how he deals with you!" Professor McGonagall said angrily, dragging Malfoy away in the other direction.

Under the Invisibility Cloak, the three of them were overjoyed to see Malfoy caught by Professor McGonagall. Ron was one thing, but even Hermione, who had been gloomy lately, could not help smiling.

When they carried the crate to the top of the Astronomy Tower, Charlie's colleagues had not arrived yet.

"I never thought Professor McGonagall would solve our problem in the end. I'm so happy I could dance to celebrate!" Hermione stepped lightly, all her earlier gloom swept away as she beamed.

"Don't!" Harry and Ron stopped her. "I think you need to calm down right now—"

"Fine..." Hermione spread her hands easily. "But Malfoy looked so funny just now..."

At that, they remembered him being dragged away by Professor McGonagall by the ear and could not help giggling again.

A few minutes later, four young people on broomsticks descended from the darkness, interrupting their conversation.

Charlie's friends greeted them cheerfully. They tied the crate containing Norbert to the broomsticks with straps while chatting about their days at Hogwarts.

They spoke a little too loudly during the conversation, and Harry awkwardly reminded them to keep it down.

Everyone worked together to secure Norbert, then the trio shook hands with them one by one. Soon after, they mounted their Flying Broomsticks and left the tower.

The matter was finally settled. They had gotten rid of Norbert, and without the crate weighing them down on the way back, all three of them seemed to walk much more lightly.

There could not have been a better ending—Norbert had been safely sent away, Slytherin had lost points, and Malfoy would be put in detention.

"I'm so happy. Nothing can ruin this joy now—"

"Oh? Is that so?"

A hoarse voice suddenly rang out, followed by Filch's pale face appearing around the stairway corner.

The three young wizards froze. They had been so pleased with themselves that they had forgotten the Invisibility Cloak on the rooftop, allowing Filch to catch them red-handed.

"Look what I've found." The smug expression had shifted to Filch's face.

He deliberately drew out his words, his gaze moving back and forth among the three of them. "Well, well. Though I hate to spoil your joy, I have to say this: you're in trouble!"