DISCLAIMER
I do not own Harry Potter ... but if I did Fang would have been the main character
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There were a few things Bel had missed out on during and after the quidditch match.
Firstly, there had been complications that resulted in Ron and Hermione being unable to talk to Hagrid.
Such complications involved a fight that broke out between Ron, Neville, and Malfoy.
Secondly, Harry had seen Snape and Quirrell speaking to one another, only raising his suspicion that Snape was after the Philosophers stone.
Both of these things had resulted in the three Gryffindors deciding that time was of the essence, and that they needed to speak to Hagrid urgently.
The consequence was sneaking out of their dorms and heading to Hagrid's hut after curfew.
The hut where Bel and Hagrid were currently sat after they had returned from the Forbidden Forest on one of their duties.
Hagrid was doing something that intrigued Bel to no end. He was cooking a dragon's egg to help it hatch.
The half giant had promised that she could help as a reward for assistance in the forest over the winter.
The number of injured and struggling creatures in the freezing temperatures were overwhelming, and the two had managed to save as many as possible.
Hagrid had also taken notice of Bel's affinity for animals, and also the affinity they had for her.
She seemed to bond with them, and them with her, like nothing he had ever seen before.
And so he hoped that her being around would help his new baby dragon feel comfortable.
"I've never seen a real dragon before", Bel said from a gigantic leather armchair as Hagrid threw a few more logs onto the fire.
"Well, this dragon will never 'ave seen a person before", he replied, glancing into the metal pot over the fire containing the egg.
"Do you know what it will look like?" Bel asked.
"Not a clue", Hagrid responded.
Suddenly, there was a hurried knock at the door.
"Ya still got extended curfew, don't ya?" Hagrid asked Bel as he walked over to the door, just in case it was Filch.
With her extended curfew in place, she wouldn't get into trouble if she was caught out of bed.
Bel nodded and sat forward in her chair to see who was at the door.
However, Hagrid was standing in the way, blocking her vision.
But she didn't need to see faces to know who was there.
"Hagrid!" the voice of Harry said from the other side of the door.
"Oh, 'ello. Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to en'ertain today", Hagrid replied as he tried to close the door.
Hagrid wasn't one to say no to people.
He knew that the Gryffindors at his door would get into trouble if they were caught out of bed and in his hut, so turning them away like that was the only way he saw how.
"We know about the Philosopher's Stone!" the voices of Ron, Hermione, and Harry all called out.
"Oh", Hagrid said as he opened the door once more and turned to walk back into the hut.
"I'm assumin' you know about this too?" Hagrid addressed Bel who gave him a guilty look and nodded her head.
"Bel? What are you doing here?" Hermione asked as she removed her Gryffindor robe and took a seat at Hagrid's large wooden table.
"She has duties in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, remember?" Ron said back in a cold tone, taking a seat in between Harry and Fang.
"I do. Which gives me permission to be out of bed. Why are you here?" Bel asked.
"We couldn't talk to Hagrid at the quidditch match", Harry replied.
"Why not?" Bel asked.
Hermione and Harry both turned to Ron with disapproving looks and crossed arms.
"I ... might have gotten distracted", Ron muttered.
"He was too busy getting into a fight with Malfoy", Hermione explained.
"What?!" Bel practically yelled.
"I got tired of waiting for him to shut himself up on his own, so I decided to help him out", Ron said.
Bel shook her head as she took in a deep breath.
She knew just how frustrating Draco Malfoy could be, but the best way to deal with people like him is to just ignore them.
At least, that's what she had learnt at the orphanages.
If she argued back or had one of her 'accidents', it only made things worse.
But there was another thing she had learnt.
That usually, the children who were the meanest were like that for a reason.
That there was something else going on behind closed doors.
But that was a premise that Bel wouldn't apply to Draco Malfoy quite yet.
For now, whilst she was disappointed in Ron, she also couldn't help but be annoyed that she had missed the look on Malfoy's face when he got hit.
"That's not the only thing that happened ... even though it was amazing, and I hate that I missed it. I saw Snape up to no good. Again. Hagrid, we think Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's stone", Harry said to divert their conversation back to the matter at hand.
"Snape? Blimey, you're not still on abou' 'im are ya?" Hagrid responded as he glanced at the dragon egg.
"We know he's after the stone, we just don't know why", Harry persisted.
"Snape is one of the teachers protecting the stone. He's not abou' to steal it", Hagrid argued back.
"What?" Harry said as he shared a confused glance with Ron.
"You 'eard. All righ', come on now. I'm a bit preoccupied today. You three aren' allowed to be 'ere", Hagrid said as he gestured to the door.
"Wait a minute ... one of the teachers?" Harry thought out loud.
"Of course! There are other things defending the stone, aren't there? Spells, enchantments", Hermione figured.
"That's righ'. Waste of bloody time if ya ask me. Ain't no one gonna get pas' Fluffy. Ain't a soul knows how, except for me an' Dumbledore", Hagrid explained before his eyes widened and he looked at the curious group of four.
"I shouldn' 'ave told you tha'. I should not 'ave told you tha'", Hagrid muttered to himself.
Everyone's attention was flicked to a rattling noise coming from the metal pot over the fireplace.
"I think he's ready", Hagrid said to Bel who grinned from ear to ear earning confused looks from the three Gryffindors.
Hagrid went to pick the egg up out of the pot, but even with his oven gloves on it was way too hot.
"If ya could, Bel", he said and pointed to the pot.
Bel quickly stood up from the large armchair and walked over to the fireplace.
She glanced at the large, brown egg moving around in the pot before raising up her right hand.
As she did so, she thought of the Wingardium Leviosa charm which resulted in the dragon egg levitating out of the pot.
Bel then moved her arm around slowly, careful not to break her focus off the egg to avoid dropping it, and the egg followed her direction until she gently placed it down on the large wooden table in front of Hermione.
Once she had finished moving the egg, Hagrid took a seat at the table as Harry and Ron rushed over to see what was going on.
"Um, Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Harry asked.
"That? It's ... um ...", Hagrid started before Ron cut him off.
"I know what that is! But Hagrid, how did you get one?"
"I won it. Off a stranger I met down the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter o' fact", Hagrid explained.
The egg then burst open, flinging cracked pieces of shell in all directions.
Bel watched as a small, slimy, green and brown dragon emerged from the egg and attempted to balance itself on the table.
"Is that ... a dragon?" Hermione started.
"That's not just a dragon. That's a Norwegian Ridgeback. My brother Charlie works with these in Romania", Ron explained.
"Isn't he beautiful? Oh, bless 'im. Look, he knows 'is mummy", Hagrid said with a smile as the small dragon turned to face him and let out a small squeal.
The dragon then turned to face Bel and walked over to her across the table.
She couldn't help but smile softly and slowly pet the dragon behind its head.
"Told ya he would like ya", Hagrid said as the dragon squealed with delight.
"What name did we decide on again?" Bel asked as the dragon walked back over to Hagrid.
"Norbert. 'ello Norbert", Hagrid replied as he also went to pet Norbert.
"Norbert?" Harry asked in a slightly judgemental tone.
"He's gotta 'ave a name, don't he? Ain't tha' right, Norbert?" Hagrid said as he continued to pet Norbert under his chin.
The dragon then started to cough, and a small ball of fire travelled from its mouth, landing directly onto Hagrid's beard.
"He'll 'ave to be trained up a bit, o' course", Hagrid said as he patted the fire out on his beard.
"Can I help?" Bel asked keenly.
"O' course ya can. Norbert will need a sister", Hagrid said with a wink.
Bel smiled and looked back down at the small dragon.
Hopefully her visits to Hagrid's will be more exciting now she will have a small dragon to help train.
Not that they weren't exciting before, but Bel missed the animals she bonded with only to not see them again.
She had Gus, though. Perhaps he would become jealous if she got another pet.
"Who's tha'?" Hagrid asked and Bel looked up to see him glancing towards one of the windows.
She followed his eyeline to see a familiar platinum-blond haired boy standing outside, gazing into the hut before quickly running off.
"Malfoy", Harry spat.
"Oh, dear", Hagrid muttered.
"We need to get back to our dorms before he can tell on us", Hermione said as she quickly stood up from her chair.
Harry and Ron nodded and started to put on their robes to leave.
"I'll see you again in a couple of days. Document everything that happens with Norbert whilst I'm not around", Bel said to Hagrid as she also put on her Hufflepuff robe.
"I will. Now get out of 'ere", Hagrid instructed and the four quickly ran over to the door.
"I hope Malfoy runs as slow as his brain works", Harry said as they headed out of the hut and back to the school.
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Eventually, the four had made it undetected into the dark stone hallways of Hogwarts.
"Hagrid always wanted a dragon. Told me so the first time I ever met him", Harry said as they walked down the hallway.
"It's true. He kept mentioning how he wanted one every time we would go into the forest and see literally any creature", Bel added.
"It's crazy. And what's worse, Malfoy knows", Ron chimed in.
He was right. Draco Malfoy knowing about Norbert was not good. It was very possible that Norbert could be taken away from Hagrid if he decided to tell anyone.
And that was very likely.
But not everyone saw what Ron was hinting towards.
"I don't understand. Is that bad?" Harry asked.
"It's bad", Ron replied as he stopped in his tracks.
Bel looked up and saw that Professor McGonagall was now standing in front of them, candle in hand.
"Good evening", the professor said with an angered expression.
From behind her, Draco Malfoy stepped out into view with his classic smug smile.
"In the classroom. Now", Professor McGonagall demanded before turning on her heel and walking into the dimly lit room.
The group of four all shared looks with each other.
Hermione, notably, looked terrified.
Bel had no reason to be nervous. She was allowed to be out of bed.
But she had lost track of time. She could only hope that her extended curfew hadn't expired yet.
Harry followed after McGonagall first, Ron closely behind.
Hermione took a deep breath and entered the classroom.
Bel shot Draco as much of a deathly glare as she could muster as she walked past him.
They had convened in front of McGonagall's desk which was up on a raised platform.
Draco was sat on the far right by himself, with Bel, Ron, Hermione, and Harry all stood directly opposite the infuriated teacher.
"As the head of Gryffindor house, I will speak to those of you who are a part of that house first", McGonagall started.
Bel let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.
Whilst Professor McGonagall was one of the kinder staff members, she was still incredibly scary when she intended to be.
"Nothing, I repeat, nothing gives the student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken", she continued.
"Fifty?!" Harry exclaimed.
"Each", McGonagall replied in a flat tone.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all let their mouths fall wide open in disbelief.
Even Bel felt her eyes widen at the scale of the punishment.
Unlike Draco, who was nodding with his smug smile out of the corner of her eye.
"As for you, Miss Whitlock, I am aware of your special arrangements. You will not receive a punishment tonight", Professor McGonagall addressed Bel in a much gentler tone.
"Now, to ensure it doesn't happen again, the rest of you will receive detention. All four of you", the professor concluded.
"Excuse me, professor, but Bel was with them. Surely, she should be punished too. And perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said all four of us", Draco tried to interject.
"No, you heard me correctly, Mr Malfoy. You see, honourable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. Miss Whitlock has permission from the headmaster to do so, you do not. You will join your classmates in detention", Professor McGonagall replied.
Bel turned to Draco, along with her three Gryffindor friends, and the roles had quickly reversed.
The four of them all had a smug smile and Draco looked angry and defeated.
Truly a sight to behold.
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Two weeks went by.
Bel had continued her routine of classes, controlling her wand (fairly successfully now), and spending time with her friends.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all placed under scrutiny from other students after it spread through school that they had cost Gryffindor 150 points.
With each passing day, Harry had become more and more convinced that Snape was going after the Philosopher's stone, despite what Hagrid had told them.
But they hadn't yet taken any sort of action.
They found themselves at a stalemate. They couldn't go to a teacher as they had no evidence that Snape was doing anything wrong, so they had to wait until he slipped up and exposed himself.
So far, that hadn't happened.
But what had happened is the night of her friends (and Draco's) detention had arrived.
Whilst Bel had gotten off scot free two weeks ago, little did she know that she was practically going to be taking detention with them.
As she headed down to Hagrid's hut for her weekly forest duties, she prepared herself to deal with Hagrid.
Last week had been tough. As well as Draco tattling of the group's whereabouts, he had also let slip that Hagrid had a dragon.
Norbert had been taken away to Romania.
Bel hadn't realized how emotional Hagrid could be. The entire time they walked through the forest he had been crying.
It didn't help that fact that they were supposed to be focusing on finding an injured unicorn.
One that they ended up not locating.
Hopefully, it wouldn't go that way this week.
However, she was pulled from her thoughts of a teary Hagrid as she laid eyes on four other students standing beside Filch outside of his hut.
"Ah! There ya are", Hagrid called out as he wiped his eyes.
The four students turned around and Bel saw that it was Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco.
"What's she doing here?" Draco asked in a cold tone.
"Still upset about Norbert?" Bel asked, ignoring Draco, as she went to stand beside her giant friend.
"O' course I am. He was only a baby", Hagrid replied.
"Oh for God's sake, pull yourself together man. You're going into the forest after all. Got to have your wits about ya", Filch spat at Hagrid.
"The forest? I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are ... werewolves", Draco complained as a howling noise sounded out in the distance.
"Oh there's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that. Nighty-night", Filch replied as he walked off back towards the school.
"Don't ya worry. Nothin' will hurt ya. Not with Bel and myself around", Hagrid tried to console the terrified students as he picked up his crossbow.
"Didn't you hear what I said? Students aren't allowed. I don't feel like a Hufflepuff girl is going to be able to keep those monsters from attacking us", Draco spat.
"Speak for yourself, Malfoy. I feel safer with Bel here", Harry quickly snapped.
"Me too", Ron added.
"So do I", Hermione also said.
Bel smiled at her three friends support and also at Malfoy's annoyed expression.
In Draco's defence, he didn't know about her power, her wand, or her trips into the forest.
She would be nervous too.
"I've been into the forest before. I'll be able to help", Bel said to everyone, but she was glancing in Draco's direction.
Panicking in the forest wasn't ideal.
It would be much safer for everyone if he accepted that he was in safe hands.
To her surprise, Draco didn't snap back with a sharp comment.
Instead, he rolled his eyes and let out a small scoff.
That was the best she was going to get.
"Right, then. Let's go", Hagrid said, knowing that waiting around might make Draco change his mind about staying silent.
And with those words, the group of six left to enter the Forbidden Forest.
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Just me laying the foundation for Harry, Bel, and Draco scenes
Nothing to see here haha
I hope y'all are enjoying this so far <3