Harry Potter and The Minister's Daughter-TPS

☆IDK What to Name This Chapter☆

☆Juliette's POV☆

I couldn't keep my mind off of my meeting with Firenze, it was supposed to be next week, and I couldn't wait to know what he had to say. Soon exams came up and I had no time to think of anything but school. Exams weren't too horrible and soon they had just finished their last exam, History of Magic.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager." Hermione liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. My brother, the Weasley twins, and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet." I looked over to Harry who was rubbing his forehead.

"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting -- it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," I suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming...."

"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down." Ron said laying down against the tree trunk, I picked a blade of grass from the ground and messed with it. We all sat there in silence until Harry jumped to his feet.

"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.

"I've just thought of something," said Harry. His face looked pale. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" panted Hermione, as we hurried to keep up with him.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, as we scrambled up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky, they found Hagrid; don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you talking about?" said Ron, but Harry didn't answer instead he ran up to Hagrid, we all exchanged a look before running after him. 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," said Ron, but Harry cut him off.

"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 the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn'he? I never saw his face; he kept his hood up." Harry asked

"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.... an 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..."