This Isn't a Dog, It's a Dragon

Once Gavin had learned to use the Marauder's Map, he began tracking the whereabouts of key people. Quirrell, for instance.

One night, while spying on Quirrell again, Gavin noticed something odd.

Quirrell wasn't in his office for once. He was moving along a first-floor corridor toward the castle doors. He was about to leave.

The Forbidden Forest?

Gavin stared at the ink dot on the old parchment and raised an eyebrow.

That seemed a little earlier than expected.

Still, it gave Gavin a lift.

"Good," Gavin murmured. "At least things are moving in the right direction."

He had tested it several times recently. Quirrell couldn't see him.

More precisely, with Tortoise-Breathing and his newly refined Disillusionment Charm working together, people had a hard time noticing him.

So when he saw Quirrell moving, he folded away the Marauder's Map and followed without much hesitation.

Hogwarts was quiet at night.

Staircases, corridors, the Entrance Hall, stone steps—shadows hung from the walls, and the whole castle lay silent.

Quirrell walked quickly, his black robes a small, shifting patch of darkness. Gavin trailed him at a careful distance, breathing so softly that his footsteps were almost inaudible.

Everything went smoothly.

Until they passed Hagrid's Hut.

Just as Gavin was about to keep following, the hut door flew open with a bang.

A dark shape burst out.

It moved absurdly fast, charging almost straight at Gavin. He stopped on instinct, and his first thought was:

Does Hagrid raise dogs this big too?

A second later, he realized something was wrong.

That was no dog.

Its limbs were far too thick, its wings short, and its tail lashed with considerable force. Hot air even puffed from its nostrils. It was about the size of a large dog, but that face belonged in no ordinary guide to dog ownership.

More importantly—

It was still charging straight at Gavin.

Gavin could no longer stay calmly invisible. He raised his hand on reflex and fired a Slowing Charm at it.

The spell struck, but barely did anything. The creature faltered for a moment, then lowered its head and charged on as though nothing had happened.

It seemed highly resistant to the Slowing Charm.

"...All right," Gavin said, at a loss. "You're tougher than a troll."

He would have to try something else.

He flicked his wand. A huge rock beside Hagrid's Hut twisted and changed, becoming a long, sturdy iron chain in the blink of an eye. It whipped out with a clatter and slipped neatly around the little creature's neck.

It tried to lunge forward again.

But less than half a step from Gavin, the chain snapped taut. Its feet dug two furrows in the dirt, and a short, fierce growl came from its throat before it was hauled to a stop.

Gavin held the chain fast with his wand, looked down at the creature, and said with feeling, "I really do like Transfiguration best."

The moment he said it, chaos broke out inside Hagrid's Hut.

Hagrid rushed out first, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione close behind. All three wore much the same expression—

Concern, then alarm, then a kind of shock that was hard to describe when they saw what stood before them.

Because what they saw was this:

Gavin stood in the moonlight holding an iron chain. At the other end was a little dragon struggling with all its might and getting nowhere. That dragon—Norbert—normally had to be coaxed and pampered even by Hagrid. Now Gavin had him tethered to the ground like a dog.

Hagrid's mouth hung open. It took him a long moment to get any words out.

"You—you've—"

"I was about to ask you," Gavin said. He glanced at the creature on the chain and finally frowned. "This dog-sized thing is a dragon?"

"Of course he's a dragon!" Hagrid said at once, sounding a little hurt. "He's a Norwegian Ridgeback. The most beautiful little fellow—"

Norbert lunged again.

Gavin gave the chain an easy flick. Under his control, it shifted just enough to catch Norbert at an angle where he couldn't put his strength behind the pull. The little dragon let out an aggrieved whine, twisted twice, and, finding he couldn't break free, gradually settled down.

More absurdly, Norbert looked at Gavin, sniffed, then took a step closer as naturally as could be.

Hagrid: "..."

Harry: "..."

Ron: "..."

Hermione: "..."

The sight was ridiculous.

A moment ago, they had been fumbling around inside the hut, trying to coax Norbert back in. Then they came outside and watched Gavin go from "What are you?" to "Right, stay there" in no time at all.

And Norbert seemed perfectly happy with it.

Hagrid's eyes lit up.

It was the look he got when he met someone who truly knew what he was doing.

"Can you train dragons?" He practically threw himself at Gavin, nearly knocking him over.

"No," Gavin said honestly. "I just think they have a few things in common with large dogs."

"How can you call them just 'a few things'?" Hagrid's face reddened with excitement. "He's much smarter than a dog!"

"Mm." Gavin glanced down at Norbert, who was trying to nudge the hem of his robe with his nose. "But he does look rather like one right now."

Ron couldn't help laughing.

Hagrid was still looking at Gavin as if he couldn't believe anyone would compare such a noble dragon to a dog.

By now, Norbert had calmed down completely. He even began circling Gavin. He clearly liked him.

The others had mixed feelings about that, especially Hagrid.

Hagrid had cared for the little creature all this time. Yet Norbert had taken an obvious liking to someone he had met thirty seconds ago, who had even put him on a chain like a dog.

"That's not fair," Ron muttered.

"He's bitten Harry," Hermione said.

"He was spitting sparks at me yesterday," Hagrid grumbled.

Gavin ignored them. He loosened the chain and let Norbert rub against him, then looked up at Hagrid.

"Where did you get this dragon's egg?"

Hagrid froze.

"A... a friend gave it to me."

"What friend?"

"Met him at a pub." Hagrid was plainly growing nervous.

Gavin looked at him without a word.

Gavin knew that if he stayed quiet and stared at Hagrid, Hagrid would usually start feeling he hadn't been quite honest enough.

Sure enough, Hagrid lasted only a few seconds before telling them everything.

He told them about the cloaked stranger at a pub in Hogsmeade: how the man had played cards with him, drawn information out of him, and given him the dragon egg after hearing him say he knew how to care for a dragon.

"...He seemed quite keen to know how to get past those, er, things guarding something at the school." Hagrid's voice grew quieter as he spoke.

Hermione's head snapped up.

"What things guarding something?"

Hagrid immediately realized he had said too much.

"Nothing."

"Hagrid." Harry stepped forward. "Does this have something to do with that three-headed dog?"

Hagrid looked more and more like a man telling himself to shut up at once. Unfortunately, he was already terribly nervous that night, and watching Gavin tame a dragon single-handedly had clearly lowered his defenses even further.

"...His name's Fluffy," Hagrid mumbled.

Ron's eyes widened.

"You even gave him a name?!"

"That's not the point!" Hermione said in a low voice. "What's his weakness?"

Hagrid's whole face scrunched up.

But under their stares, he finally gave in and whispered:

"Music."

"What?"

"He likes music," Hagrid said, then hurriedly added, "Don't you go telling everyone!"

Gavin listened from the side, pleased. He hadn't expected such a bonus tonight.

Come on, plot. Pick up the pace.

On the way back to the castle, the three of them were plainly preoccupied.

The mysterious card player.

Hagrid being tricked into talking.

Fluffy's weakness.

The "something" he was guarding.

Put it all together with what they had uncovered earlier, and the conclusion was almost certain.

Someone—they thought it was most likely Snape—was after the Philosopher's Stone.

Harry walked ahead, saying little.

Behind him, Ron and Hermione argued in low voices, though they agreed on the main point: Snape was definitely after the Philosopher's Stone. They just didn't know when he would make his move. As they talked, they kept glancing at Gavin.

Gavin walked on ahead, pretending not to hear. He wasn't going to volunteer, take responsibility, or get involved.

That only left the three of them more torn.

They all thought Gavin was capable, and after what had just happened, their opinion of him had risen another notch.

In theory, he was exactly the person they should ask for help making a plan.

The problem was—

They were worried too.

What if Gu calmly told them, just as Hagrid had before, "You're overthinking it," or "Trust the professors' judgment"?

Before Harry could speak, Ron blurted out what he was thinking.

"Actually," he said, "I don't think Gu would take Snape's side."

Hermione glanced at him and challenged him out of habit. "Why?"

"Because Snape's taken more points off Gavin lately," Ron said earnestly, "than you've earned all term."

Hermione: "..."

It stung, but she couldn't readily argue with it.

Even Harry nearly laughed. Ron had a point. Having also lost points to Snape, Harry suddenly felt a little closer to Gavin.

In the end, the three of them made up their minds.

"Gu," Harry called.

"Hmm?"

"What do you think... we should do now?"

Gavin turned to look at them.

"About everything we just pieced together," Hermione said. "We think Snape is definitely after the Philosopher's Stone."

"Mm." Gavin nodded.

"So should we..." Harry paused. "Do something?"

Gavin thought for a moment, then answered as if it were obvious:

"When in doubt, ask Dumbledore. Write him a letter."

All three stopped.

Clearly, none of them had expected such a... straightforward plan.

"That's it?" Ron asked.

"That's it," Gavin said. "That's what I 'usually' do."

Usually, Gavin added to himself.

Hermione caught the emphasis. There was clearly some decidedly unusual experience behind that "usually."

"And if that doesn't work?" Harry asked.

"If it doesn't work, we'll figure something out ourselves," Gavin said.

He looked at the three of them and added:

"Of course, until then, I'll keep an eye on Snape for you."

To the three of them, that was a great relief—and a clear enough sign of where he stood.

At least Gu wasn't on Snape's side.

So Harry wrote the letter that night.

Dumbledore's reply came quickly.

It contained just one sentence.

"I trust Snape."

After reading it, all three wore complicated expressions.

Ron broke the silence first. "Well, I reckon Dumbledore's gone senile."

Hermione gripped the letter. Her voice was quiet but firm.

"Then we'll have to do it ourselves."

Gavin saw the letter too. He glanced down at the line, entirely unsurprised.