Chapter 36: Malfoy and the Black Dragon

"Hagrid, I know all about it. You're raising a dragon—a fire-breathing one. Let me see it, or else..."

The Malfoy family code certainly had no rule about treating people politely.

Hagrid's enormous frame blocked the little stone hut's doorway. He frowned at Luo Bin. "I didn't know you had such a big mouth. You could have told anyone, and you chose someone from the Malfoy family."

Before Luo Bin could work out how to defend himself against the accusation, Draco spoke up for him. "Hmph. Scarhead, the Mudblood, and the pauper were talking loudly enough about a dragon hatchling at Hogwarts for the whole world to hear."

Hagrid's expression tightened. "Sorry, Luo Bin. I got it wrong!"

"It's fine. Draco promised me he wouldn't tell anyone. Let us in first!"

They couldn't stand in the doorway forever. After a moment's thought, Hagrid said, "All right!"

The moment they entered, Norbert came toddling over. Only a day out of his shell, he had already learned to run and was a little bigger than yesterday.

Luo Bin drew his wand and conjured one ball of orange flame after another. Once the little fellow had gulped down more than a dozen, he flapped his membranous wings and ran over to Draco.

Norbert burrowed into Draco's robes, hooked a wingtip into his pocket, and stamped his two big black claws excitedly against the floor.

"Norbert, rummaging through someone else's pockets is very rude. Come on, be a good little dragon and come to Mummy!" Hagrid crouched and clapped his hands.

Norbert whined and refused to budge. Seeing that Draco's robes were about to be shredded, Luo Bin said, "Draco, stop teasing him. Unless you want him spraying sparks all over you."

"Tch. No fun!"

Draco's pale fingertips brushed against a hard little horn, and he jerked his hand back. But the hatchling didn't get angry. Instead, Norbert lowered his head and whined for more. Emboldened, Draco took hold of the horn and gave the dragon a thorough petting.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

A few minutes later, Draco opened his pockets and set tin after tin of meat on the little table.

"I read that dragons are carnivorous magical beasts. Here, Norbert. Today you're having canned tuna!"

Draco opened a tin, carefully picked out the fish bones, then fed the little Black Dragon spoonful after spoonful.

"Look, Luo Bin. Norbert's so happy he can't stop wagging his tail. Who would've thought a Malfoy, with his nose always in the air, had a kind side?" Hagrid said.

After one tin, Draco pulled out several curious new toys!

A mechanical bird that flew in loops led the little Black Dragon racing all over the hut. Furniture toppled, but Hagrid didn't mind.

Next came tiny round biscuits, each no bigger than a pea. The little Black Dragon spread his wings, opened his mouth wide, and leaped madly into the air.

At first, he caught only three out of ten. Later, he caught every one. Hagrid clapped and cheered beside him, proclaiming Norbert the cleverest dragon hatchling in the world.

More than three hours later, Luo Bin extinguished the flame at the tip of his wand and nudged Norbert into Hagrid's arms. "Draco, we have to go. Don't forget we have class at two!"

"All right. Then... we'll come see Norbert after class this afternoon!"

Luo Bin shook his head. "Harry, Hermione, and Ron are coming this afternoon. Do you want to run into them?"

No. Absolutely not!

Draco picked up the fire tongs by the hearth and traced little circles on the floor.

Norbert wriggled free of Hagrid's arms and scampered over to imitate him, drawing circles with his claws. His came out wavy, though, and the ends didn't even meet.

"We only have one class tomorrow morning. We'll come back after that!"

But I'll need to bring some food. Hagrid's stoat sandwiches are awful!

"Promise you won't change your mind!"

Draco wrapped his arms around Norbert and gave him another enthusiastic cuddle before reluctantly following Luo Bin out of the little stone hut.

Over the next week, Luo Bin made sure his visits with Norbert never overlapped with the Main Character Group's. Hagrid tactfully kept Draco's daily visits to himself.

Gradually, the ugly-cute little Black Dragon won Draco over completely. Now he was as unwilling as Hagrid to send Norbert away!

But Norbert was a dragon. In just one week, he had grown as big as a table. His tail struck the stone walls with a resounding bang and shook the roof beams. The wooden furniture was either broken or overturned; anyone walking in might have thought a tornado had hit the hut!

At this rate, Norbert would be as big as the hut in another two weeks.

Harry suggested asking Charlie, who worked with dragons, for help. Ron immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Romania by owl.

On Wednesday evening, the owl brought a reply. Everyone gathered in the little stone hut, where Harry opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter aloud, word by word.

Charlie said he would be glad to take Norbert in, but he couldn't find time to come to Hogwarts for him. A few of his friends happened to be visiting him in Romania, though. Could they collect Norbert from the castle's highest tower at midnight on Saturday?

"Oh, heavens! Norbert's leaving this Saturday? Could you write back and ask them to come next Saturday instead?" Hagrid said, hugging a cardboard box full of dead mice.

"Hagrid, Norbert's too conspicuous. You've neglected too much of your work looking after him this past week. Madam Hooch complained throughout last week's Flying Class about the dust on the brooms. If this keeps up, someone's going to notice!"

"Besides, Romania's climate is better for Norwegian Ridgebacks, and there are plenty of wizards there who know how to raise and train dragons. Norbert will be well cared for."

"But... but he's still little. He needs his mummy!"

Hagrid knew Luo Bin was right, but he still couldn't bear to part with Norbert.

"Hagrid, the smaller a dragon is, the easier he is to transport. Would you rather see him travel to Romania in a crate, or be taken there in chains with the wind battering him all the way? Besides, the long holiday starts in a little over a month. I'll go with you to visit him then, all right?"

"He's... still little. Chains would cut into his skin. I'll have to build a big wooden crate before Saturday." Hagrid stroked Norbert's little horns with his huge hand.

"Great! Ron, let's write back quickly so Charlie isn't kept waiting!"

When Ron nodded, Harry fetched pen and paper. After writing the reply, he gave the envelope to Hedwig.

They stood in the yard and watched Hedwig fly off. Suddenly, a piercing scream came from inside the hut.

"Ahh! It hurts! It really hurts! Let go! Let go!"

They rushed back inside!

Norbert was growling angrily. One sharp tooth was sunk into Ron's finger, and blood kept welling from the wound.

Ron didn't dare pull his hand away for fear of tearing his finger. "Harry, Hermione, do something! Charlie said Norwegian Ridgebacks have incredibly strong jaws. Pig iron's like pudding to them. Hurry! I don't want to lose a finger."

"Ron, you really know how to get yourself into trouble. You knew Norbert didn't like you, but you just had to go near him. Learned your lesson now?"

Hermione's tongue was sharp, but her heart was kind, and she hadn't stopped trying to help. She filled a glass with Brandy and waved it in front of Norbert's eyes. A minute later, he still hadn't let go, but at least he had calmed down enough to stop growling.