Willow

P.20

Willow leads the boys into the library and over to Hermione, Ron and Harry, the seven of them revising for their end of year exams "I'll never remember this!" Ron complains, throwing down his quill and looking out the window. "Never say never." Willow tells him, not looking up from her Transfiguaration work. "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?" Ron suddenly asks. "Jus' lookin'. An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?" Hagrid asks, hiding something behind his back. "Oh, we found out who he is ages ago. And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-" Ron starts, stopping when Willow speeds round the table and covers his mouth with her hand "Shhhh!" she tells him. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?" Hagrid adds, looking thankfully at Willow. "There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact, about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy-" Harry starts, Willow speeding round to him and covering Harry's mouth this time. "SHHHH! Listen, come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh." Hagrid explains. "See you later, then." Harry tells him, making Hagrid shuffle off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione asks thoughtfully. "Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" Theo asks, Willow giving him a warning look which makes him immediately shut his mouth. "I'm going to see what section he was in." Ron decides, getting up and walking into the section of the library Hagrid was in. After a minute he comes back with a pile of books in his arms, slamming them onto the table. "Dragons! Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: 'Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland', 'From Egg to Inferno', 'A Dragon Keeper's Guide'." he lists. "Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him." Harry tells them. "But it's against our laws. Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that." Blaise explains. "It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden, anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania." Ron adds. "But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" Harry asks. "Of course there are, Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget." Draco explains. "So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" Hermione asks.

An hour later they all head down to Hagrid's, confused when they see the curtain drawn "Who is it?" Hagrid asks as they knock on the door. "Hagrid, it's us." Harry tells him. Hagrid quickly lets them in, closing the door quickly behind them. Willow frowns in confusion when she sees the fire blazing in the fireplace, even though it's a hot day outside "So, yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid asks. "Yes, we were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy?" Harry responds. Hagrid frowns "O' course I can't. Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts, I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy." Hagrid explains. "Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here. We only wondered who had done the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you." Hermione says in a flattering voice, Hagrid smiling with pride.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that. . . let's see. . . he borrowed Fluffy from me. . . then some o' the teachers did enchantments. . . Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell, an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape." Hagrid lists. "Snape?" Harry asks. "Yeah, yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it." Hagrid tells them. "You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy. Aren't you, Hagrid? And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?" Harry asks. "Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore." Hagrid states proudly. "Well, that's something." Harry mutters. Willow continues looking at the fire, smiling when she realises what's in it "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling." Blaise asks. "Can't, Blaise, sorry." Hagrid responds, glancing at the fire. "Hagrid, what's that?" Harry asks, spotting the large black egg. "Ah. That's, er..." Hagrid trails off. Ron joins Willow by the fire, also realising what it is "Where did you get it, Hagrid? It must've cost you a fortune." he asks. "Won it. Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest." Hagrid responds.

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Theo asks. "Well, I've bin doin' some readin'. 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 smiles, showing them the book he had hidden under his pillow. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden house." Hermione points out, Hagrid not listening as he happily stokes the fire. Willow stands up and motions to the others that they should leave, nodding they all bid Hagrid goodbye before walking back up to the school "Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life." Ron remarks as they walk. "Wouldn't know, my family is always chaotic." Willow smiles. "That's true." Draco, Blaise and Theo laugh.