ghost stories - h. potter

Seven

s e v e n

The rest of September passed by rather quickly with Belle spending most of her time completing the ever-growing pile of homework that teachers constantly added to, to get them ready for their upcoming NEWTs.

Care of Magical Creatures had definitely become one of Belle's favourite classes. Hagrid, who had told the class that he had some 'special contacts in other countries' had brought in a rather large, wooden box to his lesson one cold, October morning.

"Now, gather round, yeh lot," he called to the seventh years. Belle and Pansy, who had taken the class just so she would have less homework, moved closer towards the front, curious to see what he had brought to the lesson.

"Now, yeh all know tha' dragons aren't allowed on school grounds bu' Professor McGonagall gave me special permission to show yeh all these," Hagrid pulled the top from the crate, placing it on the green grass behind him. The rather small class of students leaned forwards to peer into the crate, only to see a dozen, small, different coloured eggs sitting on glowing coals.

"Hagrid, are those real dragon eggs?" A Slytherin boy asked curiously. Hagrd shook his magnificent head at this.

"No. Yeh see, before dragon trainers can work with proper dragons, they need ter understand how dragons work and act. They're given these prototypes as a test. They won' grow much bigger than yer hand, but I'm allowed to give yeh all one as the beginning of your NEWT project," Hagrid explained. It was no secret that everyone was excited about this.

"They're all different kinds, aren't they? All the eggs are different," Belle noted and Hagrid grinned broadly.

"Not a single same one in here!" He responded.

"Now, line up yeh lot and pick an egg," Belle was about halfway towards the front and had eight different eggs to choose from when she reached the crate.

The first egg was completely red, almost blending in with the glowing coals it was sitting on, but had gold outlining that sparkled slightly in the heat. The second was a dark violet and had blue flecks accenting the scales that covered the shell. The third was a brilliant bronze that looked almost identical to the knocker on the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower. The fourth was a soft yellow that looked as though it had been made from butter and flower petals. The fifth was a dark, forest green and the sixth was a deep blue. The seventh was a dark orange that looked like fire but the eighth egg was the one that caught Belle's undivided attention. 

This egg was an inky black, silver outlining the scales that covered the dragon inside. It sparkled in the sunlight, yet seemed slightly eerie which was probably the reason as to why it hadn't been picked yet. Belle, however, stretched her hands out and picked the egg up softly, hissing a little at the heat.

"Yeh sure yeh wan' tha' one, Belle?" Hagrid asked, glancing at the small brunette who nodded.

"Alright. They're vicious, those ones. The mos' beautiful dragons there are, but terrifyingly vicious," Hagrid told her, causing Belle to smile very gently.

"It'll be a nice challenge," Belle replied, causing Hagrid to grin. Belle stepped out of the line and Pansy went next, choosing the deep, forest green egg.

"Does Hagrid expect us to keep dragons in our dorm?" Pansy asked curiously as she stared down at the egg in her hand.

"I dunno, but they're very pretty, aren't they?" Belle replied, running her hand gently down the black egg she held in her hands.

"Yours looks like it was born in Azkaban," Pansy replied bluntly causing Belle to snicker.

"Yours looks like grass."