The Forgotten Twin

Chapter 16

"Yeah, but what is this about?" Delilah inquired.

Hermione shrugged.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes please," Ronald answered but Harry interrupted.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

He saw the four of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head — that's one of the pubs down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas and Delilah sat next to him, seeing where this was going. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."

"And did he — did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Well — yeah — how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep —"

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey — where're yeh goin'?"

Harry, Hermione, and Ronald had bolted off and Delilah ran, confused, after them.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak — it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

"Harry, stop, what is going on?" Delilah inquired, even though she had an idea.

"The person who sold Hagrid the egg was Voldemort or Snape and they are trying to steal the stone," Harry explained as Delilah sighed. They were still on the idea that Snape was trying to steal the stone.

"Do you have any evidence to prove that someone is trying to steal it?"

Harry paused for the first time before slightly blushing.

"Um... no."

"Ok, so why do you think that Snape is trying to steal the stone?" Delilah asked.

Harry thought before answering. "Because we saw Snape heading to the third floor on Halloween night and his leg was badly injured, he tried to kill me during the first quidditch match, and I saw him threaten Quirrell multiple times. Also I think he's working with Voldemort because of what I saw on the night I had detention. There was a shadowy figure drinking unicorn blood that Firenze, a centaur, said was Voldemort."