Oh my GOD it's been THREE YEARS WHAT THE FUCK just go read enjoy I'll talk and whatever at the end. Ooh I'm nervous I hope you guys still like it.
Oh, and remember kids, we support Harry Potter, but we do not support J.K. Rowling!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters and this is not a way for me to criticize the books. It's just how I believe the characters would react if they read the Harry Potter books.
In This Chapter: The Trio and a friend read about the time they were preparing for their end of year exams, but get distracted by Hagrid having a dragon egg. After Ron receives a nasty bite, they convince Hagrid that it's best if baby dragon, Norbert, is with his own kind in Romania. Getting help from Ron's older brother, Charlie, they successfully smuggle the dragon out of Hogwarts... only they forgot something important in the process.
Chapter 14
"Oh God," Ron yawned. He was laying face down on his covers, ears ringing with the words of the last chapter. "I'm so... damn tired of this."
"I beg you don't say that before we read every chapter," Hermione said, legs tucked under her beside Ron on his bed. It was just the three of them, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as usual. They enjoyed that. When they weren't reading in class or forced to read in groups with enemies, strangers, and everything in between, they read just the three of them. It was better than reading alone, for the support, but also good to be with the people they felt the most comfortable with. And sometimes it could even be fun, laughing at themselves and what they did at such a young age without feeling watched or judged by others.
"At least for this book there's not much more," Hermione continued.
"Still quite a chunk there," Harry said. He was twirling his wand in his hand, laying on his back on his own bed. "What else happens this year besides going down the trapdoor? Anything big?"
"Hmm. Well there was the dragon," Hermione reminded him.
"Oh! Oh yeah, Norbert. I nearly forgot about that," Harry said.
"You nearly forgot? I guess you would, you didn't nearly get your hand chomped off." Ron said.
"Don't be so dramatic, Ron, you're perfectly fine." Hermione said, flipping the page. "Shall I begin?"
Ron and Harry gave lazy hand gestures to signal for her to go on. She cleared her throat and was about to begin when the door opened.
"Sorry, sorry," Neville said, awkwardly coming in. "Sorry, I'll just be a minute."
Hermione watched him as he went to his part of the room and searched around until he found his notes. And then a thought occurred to her. "Oh! Neville, have you, by chance, read chapter fourteen yet?"
Neville, caught off guard, hesitated to answer. "Uh, no."
Harry and Ron also thought this was an odd question and each glanced at Hermione. She noticed, but ignored them to say, "Would you be open to reading it with us?"
Now Harry and Ron were shocked. Only for the reason that they usually liked to keep their reading group to just the three of them.
Neville, on the other hand, didn't know what to think. It felt like not even a week ago, no one really wanted to be around him. Not in a mean way, he just wasn't anyone's favorite. Now, he realized, he had options for who he could read his chapters with. "Um... er... Well I was maybe gonna read it with Seamus and Dean, though, to be fair, neither of them confirmed that..."
Hermione shrugged. "It's just one chapter. Only if you want, though."
There was some specific reason that made Hermione extend this offer, Ron was sure of it. He just couldn't figure out what it was. Harry got the sense there was more to this too, but, well Neville was his friend, too, so he didn't really mind.
"Um... Okay I guess." Neville shrugged. "Just let me get my book, I like to follow along and make notes and stuff."
He was already turned away, so he missed Harry's cringe. Harry didn't really love when people did a super close reading of his life, but he recognized that it was the assignment if nothing else. Ron nudged Hermione with his knee.
Whatcha upto? He mouthed.
She didn't answer, gave a small jerk of her head that might have been shaking it, and looked down at the book. Of course, there was a reason for her inviting Neville. Not that she minded too much if Neville joined anyway, and not for any malicious reason, but if they were right about this being the dragon chapter, it would feel good to clear the air for something she felt extremely guilty about as a child.
"Okay," Neville said, in an admittedly good mood. It felt really nice to be chosen for things, even if it was just a reading group. "Ready."
"Great," Hermione said, and began.
~TP~
"You left the invisibility cloak?" Neville nearly shouted at Harry and Hermione as soon as the chapter was finished.
"Please don't shout," Hermione moaned.
Harry rubbed at his ear, Neville was closest to him. "To be fair, it is kind of a big thing to forget..."
"It'd be like going to fly and forgetting your broom." Ron said. "What would you two do without me, really?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, Ron. You weren't there so it's easy to say you would have done better. We were eleven, excited, and exhausted."
"That combination of things left me locked out of the common room more times than I could count." Neville said. "Glad to know there really was a dragon, though."
Hermione perked up. "Yes, Neville, we really weren't lying! And I'm so glad you know we weren't just playing some kind of cruel joke. As you can see, we just didn't want to get Hagrid into any trouble."
Neville looked a little shocked. "Oh that's no big deal. To be honest, I kind of forgot all about it." He furrowed his brows at her. "Is that the reason you've invited me to read this chapter with you?"
"Well... partly." Hermione fiddled with her thumbs. Actually, the truth was this was completely the reason. "I've felt so bad about that for years but I had no way of explaining it to you without keeping the secrets I needed to keep,"
Neville let out a small laugh. "Oh, geez, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I've long since forgotten about that. Something tells me you're way too hard on yourself."
Oh yes. If Hermione wasn't doing homework or trying to solve whatever new mystery they were thrown into every year, she was thinking about every social interaction she's had, ever. Being that it was so difficult for her to make friends when she was younger, one of her biggest fears was losing the ones she's made. Ron and Harry were so important to her, but so were Neville and Ginny and really everyone she was able to make a connection with. She constantly thought about the times where she might have pushed people away, and this incident with Neville was one that used to keep her up at night.
Harry noticed Hermione had gotten a little pink at Neville's proclamation. "To be fair, I felt pretty guilty about you getting caught up in all that, and thinking, you know, that we were messing with you."
Neville shrugged. It really hadn't bothered him. Mostly because he kind of assumed everyone tried to mess with him at least once, he was an easy target. At the time, maybe, he was a little hurt. Harry, Hermione, and Ron, were some of the nicest people to him. It felt like he just had to get used to being the butt of everyone's jokes. But after a while, whether they played a joke on him or not, he felt pretty certain that they thought of him as a friend. Certain enough to let it all go. But it did really feel good to know they were just helping out Hagrid.
Ron, uncomfortable with the bit of silence that took place, cut in, "It was nearly a perfectly executed plan, though, wasn't it? You got the dragon with Charlie, you got Malfoy in trouble, it got a little messy at the end but for eleven year olds with limited resources, I say not bad."
"Who decided on Malfoy's punishment?" Harry wondered. "Because he was in the forest with the rest of us even though McGonagall said she was taking him to Snape."
"Yeah, and Snape wouldn't have done much to him, since he's so easy on Slytherins." Ron said.
"Well, I've always wondered if he's just extra easy on them in front of the rest of us but secretly harder on them in private." Hermione tapped her chin.
"Maybe neither of them chose our punishment," Neville suggested. "Maybe McGonagall and Snape went to Dumbledore."
"You think Dumbledore would want to be bothered with a couple of first years out past curfew?" Harry asked.
"If you're involved, Harry, maybe. We all know he takes special interest in you." Neville said. Harry shifted uncomfortably. He truly hated getting special circumstances and attention.
"Why would he send us on a detention to the forest? I always thought it was a bit strange, that our punishment was to go somewhere we weren't allowed to be." Hermione said.
"Maybe he just felt it was dangerous alone, but with Hagrid it would be okay," Neville said.
"True. After all," Ron put on his best Dumbledore impression. "'I would trust Hagrid with my life'" he sat up. "That was a pretty good impression!"
Harry and Hermione snorted. Neville sighed. "I can't believe the amount of things you lot got into. I mean, the dragon stuff isn't even related to the whole philosopher's stone mystery thing--" The trio looked amongst each other, slightly amused, since the dragon was more connected than Neville would immediately guess. "But here you are, eleven years old, carrying a dragon up the tallest tower in the school--"
"Which was the most I've ever worked out," Hermione said, out of breath just thinking about it. "I mean, that thing was the size of us!"
"Goodness, and you're smuggling it out of the country... Your brother was really relaxed about the whole thing, by the way. What exactly did you tell him?"
Ron laughed. "The truth. Charlie's just cool about this kinda stuff. When we were younger, if he saw us doing things we weren't supposed to, he'd either cover for us or turn a blind eye. Besides, he loves Hagrid, he was happy to do it."
Neville shook his head in awe. "Well it's quite a story. I think if I were to try something like that, I would have had several panic attacks."
Ron tapped his chin. "In hindsight, it's quite a small adventure in comparison to the other things we've done. But it was a lot for eleven year olds," he rubbed at his hand a bit. "Let me tell you, at the time, that bite was the absolute worst pain I'd ever experienced."
"And now?" Harry asked.
Ron tapped his chin. "Yeah, I think it might still be the worst. If I hadn't gone to Pomfrey, I'm certain I'd be without a hand."
"Handless or worse, really," Hermione said. "Not that I wasn't happy to help, but I hope Hagrid appreciates all we do for him."
"He does," Harry said at once. "I mean, you know he does."
"I know," Hermione agrees. "He just gets himself into these situations sometimes because he doesn't think. But it's just because he has such a big heart."
Harry nods but Ron mutters something to himself. Neville looks over, questioningly. "What was that, Ron?"
"Oh, don't mind me. Hagrid's great and all, I just kind of got re-angry about him shouting at me over his dragon biting my hand when I was just there to help!"
Hermione giggled a bit. Ron lightly pushed her.
"It's not funny!"
Hermione nodded. "It's not, but you know Hagrid. He falls in love with his creatures so quickly, he was just being protective. In fact, I can't believe the book didn't mention the literal hours we spent consoling him when he was sobbing about Norbert leaving."
"He really thought of himself as Norbert's 'mummy'?" Neville asked.
"Well yeah, cause he's nuts." Ron said.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Hagrid really thinks of himself as a mother to all of his animals and creatures."
"Absolutely bonkers."
"Ron!"
"I say it with love!"
Harry failed to cover a laugh, but then decided to say something on it. "I think Hagrid has a huge soft spot for misunderstood creatures. You know, he's big and a lot of people think he's dangerous at first. So he sees dangerous creatures and tries to give them the treatment he wishes other people would give him."
"Well, everyone loves Hagrid," Neville said.
"Not everyone," Harry shook his head. "And I think he had it even harder when he was our age and younger."
"Yes, yes," Hermione said. "The issue is... Well the issue is most of his pets really are dangerous. And sometimes, well I think he forgets."
Neville rubbed his chin a bit. "Well nearly anything can be dangerous, right? I mean, we all keep owls as pets, but if they all decided to turn against us..."
Hermione laughed, "That would never happen! That's very different from a dragon."
"No, I know. I just mean, well Hagrid actually takes the time to try. Everyone else just runs away. And I'm not saying that about you lot, I mean what you did for Hagrid and Norbert is more than I ever would have done. But I get where Hagrid's coming from."
"I get where Hagrid's coming from, too," Hermione said. "You can take the time to try and care for them, of course, but you have to recognize the danger as well. I mean, really, what was Hagrid's plan for after Norbert hatched? I said it then and I'll say it now, he lives in a wooden house for Merlin's sake!"
"Maybe he thought he could get away with it. There's not a lot of muggles around here and that's one of the biggest problems, exposing them to muggles." Ron said. "'Cause I think constantly obliviating people isn't really good."
"Yeah, I've always wondered if it could cause long term damage." Neville thought aloud.
"We're getting off topic. The point I was making is Hagrid can sometimes be blinded by his desire to understand dangerous creatures that he forgets they are dangerous creatures."
Harry pursed his lips. "I think you're right, Hermione, but Neville's right, too. Everyone should probably be more forgiving or patient. But you gotta remember the dangers. There's probably a middle ground somewhere in there."
"Yeah, you're both right," Ron said. "Although, I'm more inclined to agree with Hermione right now, I've got this kinda faint throbbing in my hand..."
"That's in your head," Hermione said fondly. "But you know, despite everything, I really am glad we got to see a dragon egg hatch. That's a once and a lifetime experience, you know. And, in hindsight, if we had missed it to be in a Herbology class, like we nearly did, I would have really regretted it."
"Are you saying skipping class isn't the absolute worst thing you could possibly do?" Ron asked in dramatic shock.
"I'm saying... One missed Herbology class wouldn't have been that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things."
"Oh how I'll be bringing this up in the future," Ron grinned.
"But to be fair, we made it just in time even with having gone to class. If we'd skipped class, we would have been waiting the whole time, and I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the hatching. I'd have been so angry that we missed Herbology when we didn't have to." Hermione said.
"So we can agree that everything happened the way it was meant to," Harry cut in before an argument could be had. Hermione and Ron could argue about anything and everything, and nothing like this book brought it out of them faster. Hermione and Ron lazily agreed.
"Is it me," Neville thought aloud. "Or did Malfoy hate you even more in our first year than now? And that's saying something, cause he hates you plenty now."
Harry thought about it. "'More' is a strong word. His hate was just... fresher. It was new, hip, and happening, you know?" the others laughed, Harry shrugged. "It was worth risking getting himself caught just to make sure we did, too."
"And he probably was extra angry at Ron for hitting him during the quidditch game." Hermione said. "Maybe he wouldn't have done all of that if Ron hadn't hit him."
"He's doing all of it because he's a git. I was right to hit him, and I should do it again." Ron mimicked punching him.
"But Ron, you even said in the book you shouldn't have done it." Hermione said.
"You can't go off of me there, I was delusional," Ron insisted. "I had dragon venom slowly killing me. I shouldn't be liable to anything I uttered while laying on what was nearly my death bed."
"Oh please."
"You know, the dragon completely upstaged all of the exam stiff that was talked about in the beginning." Neville said.
"That's what it was like when it was happening." Harry said. "One second Hermione was drilling the information into our heads over and over, and the next all we could think about was Norbert."
"You know, when I nag you about your homework and studying, it's my way of showing I care." Hermione said.
"We know, Hermione," Harry and Ron said, both slightly amused.
"But even you weren't really thinking about school." Neville said to Hermione.
She shook her head. "This happens to me every year, I can never just focus on school, there's always some other crazy thing happening."
"And you always ace everything anyway," Harry shrugs. "'Cause you're brilliant."
"And even though you reciting all of the stuff to yourself is annoying, I'm pretty sure it's half the reason we ever do well." Ron added.
"Yes, yes, well," Hermione was flustered by the praise. "You have to give yourselves credit on all you accomplish under the stress you're under. Although, I still think both of you don't reach your highest potential. I mean, even in this chapter, Ron, you put more effort into figuring out what Hagrid was researching in the library than you did into your studies, probably ever."
Ron shrugged. "I was actually curious about that, I don't really care much about the twelve uses of dragon's blood or whatever."
Hermione opened her mouth to argue but Harry cut her off, "I actually think in some ways first year was harder than later years."
"What makes you say that?" Neville asked, voice saying clearly he's not in agreement.
Harry shrugged, "We weren't doing too much practical learning, it was mostly theory and memorization back then. I don't know, personally I learn best by doing."
"I disagree completely," Hermione said. "That was when it was easiest."
"Well yeah, you'd say that. You thrive in memorization and theoretical learning."
"I'm rubbish at all learning," Neville mumbled.
Harry jumped in at once, "That's not true, Nev. I think you're better with practical learning, too."
"Yeah, and maybe you might take a little longer, but once you have it, you really have it." Hermione encouraged.
"Sure, you're really doing great in the DA." Ron added.
Neville smiled shyly. Sometimes he was struck by just how kind the three of them were. It felt like a lot of times people didn't get to see that side of them. He thought so even at the beginning of the chapter, when they were being kind to Quirrell. Harry was encouraging the teacher and Ron telling people off for making fun of him. Of course, there were ulterior motives there, being that they didn't want Quirrell to give up the stone to Snape. And then there was the fact that all of this was for moot as Quirrell was the bad guy all along. Still, Neville couldn't remember the three of them ever actively making fun of him even before all of this. And there was something to be said about the bravery of being nice to someone everyone else was being mean to.
The door to their room opened and they all turned to see Seamus and Dean walk in. "What's this?" Dean asked. "Did you steal our reading buddy? Neville, did you read the next chapter without us?"
Seamus dramatically fell into Dean's arms. "Betrayal! It hurts!"
Dean dropped Seamus on the floor while the trio laughed and Neville shrugged. "Sorry, they asked and I figured I'd read the next one with you guys." Seamus hopped up, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to put away their copy of the book. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be one step behind me? This wouldn't have happened if you were the arse cover-ers you promised to be."
Ron paused. "Wait, what did I miss?"
Ignoring Ron, Dean said, "Sure you'll read the next chapter with us, but not just us."
"What do you mean?" Neville said.
"Fred and George are planning this big Gryffindor read for the last three chapters, it's supposed to happen tomorrow." Seamus said.
"What?" Harry yelped. "Why? When did they plan this? Why?"
The duo shrugged and Dean said, "We just heard about it. They're right down stairs, you can ask them."
Harry practically leapt off the bed and it seemed in seconds he was in the bustling Gryffindor common room. Fred and George, with Lee Jordan, were in the corner talking amongst themselves. Harry went over to them.
"Fred, George." Harry said. He nodded at Lee, "Lee."
"Harry!" the twins said together.
"Good to see you in person and not just on the page," Lee nudged him.
Harry grimaced and turned back to Fred and George. "What's this I hear of some big Gryffindor read?"
"The Gryffindor Harry Potter Reading Party!" Fred smiled.
"Tomorrow night at 7:30, right after supper," George continued.
"George and I are gonna go down to the kitchens and get snacks and the like, so don't fill up too much on dinner." Fred said. "Lee's gonna do the reading, you haven't fully experienced the book until you've heard Lee read it outloud."
Lee sat up straight. "It's the years of being a commentator, and I'm not too bad at impressions, if I say so myself."
"Well did it ever occur to you that I might not want to have a 'party' about these books?" Harry asked. "I'm sure this might be fun for you and everyone else, but I don't want to draw any more attention to this than what's already there. A reading party is the last thing I'd want."
"Hey, hey," Fred said, suddenly serious. "Relax, mate. We weren't trying to make light of this or anything. Hell, we think you're a saint."
"Right. If it were mine's or Fred's head being poked in, we'd have found a way to blow the books up in a firework light show." George said, Harry could almost see the lights of the fireworks on his face. "Honestly, we figured this whole thing sucked and we were trying to find ways to make it suck... A little less."
Harry hesitated, then said, "Okay, I guess I get that, but all of Gryffindor?"
"It's not really. It's invite only," Lee jumped in.
"Yeah, we chose people we thought you'd be okay with." Fred insisted. "Look, we weren't trying to be insensitive or anything, if you really don't want to do it, we'll call it off."
Harry didn't answer right away. It wasn't as bad as what Dean and Seamus had made it seem. Suddenly, Hermione's voice cut in. "I think it's a good idea, Harry." Harry turned, he had been unaware that his two friends had followed him down. "While I do think Fred and George should have asked you first," she gave them a stern look, "I think it would be good to try to have more positivity around the books. Reading amongst friends with snacks and stuff, well, it could be just what you need."
"Right, you could surprise yourself by having fun with it. Especially since the next day we'll be reading with Umbridge again, and that'll already be a miserable experience." Ron said. "I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of the books, but it's not all bad, you know? It's like... a trip down memory lane. That's always more fun around friends."
Harry still didn't answer so George said, "You can get final approval of everyone we include in this."
Harry heaved out a heavy sigh and then nodded. "Alright, alright fine. But make sure you bring treacle tart."
"Will do, and you lot make sure you've read chapter fourteen by then, we'll be reading fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen together." Fred said.
"We already read fourteen," Ron said. "Just now, actually."
"Oh, good, so I can do this," Fred lightly punched Ron.
"Hey! You've gotta stop hitting me!"
"Why the hell didn't you include George and I in the dragon stuff?" Fred asked.
"You went to Charlie before you went to us?" George asked.
"It was Harry's idea to go to Charlie, remember, you read it yourselves!"
"Yeah, nice plan Harry. You're pretty good at coming up with solutions, probably why you've survived this far." George said.
"Yeah, you'll make a good quidditch captain one day," Lee smiled. "Hopefully next year, eh?"
The thought warmed Harry as Fred and George turned back to Ron. Fred pointed sternly. "Next time you smuggle an illegal dragon out of the country, you better come to us."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Sure, in the very likely scenario that I'm doing something illegal in the company of a dragon, again, I'll come straight to you two."
"That's all we're asking for," the twins said together.
I really hope you enjoyed that, I'm so nervous. It's been three years, almost to the day! The last time I posted a chapter was October 29, 2017, and it's November 2, 2020! Yikessss. I cannot tell you how bad I've felt about this collecting dust for so long, it was never supposed to be this long. When I started this, I had nothing but free time. Let me tell you, in the three years since I last updated, a lot has happened in my personal life. I wish I could promise it will never happen again, but I'm real iffy about making promises like that. But if nothing else, I WILL finish book one! (And hopefully all of the others, too).
Please, please, please leave comments! I know I've been MIA, but I have read all of your wonderful comments and reviews and they mean the absolute world to me. You guys are so entertaining and sweet, and I wouldn't be uploading this without the support you've given me! Oh, and don't forget, this is also on AO3 and FF.Net. And I'm still on tumblr and twitter, feel free to contact me there!
To business, since I leave the chapter off talking about the reading party, I don't want to get any hopes up, we're gonna be with the reading party only for chapter Sixteen. For chapters Fifteen and Seventeen, we'll be with other people. I'm really excited (and scared) for what all of you will say. Thank you for your enormous patience, I will try to do better for the future!
...I still hate long A/Ns but of course, I felt this one was necessary. Anyway, have a wonderful day, evening, afternoon, night or whatever!