Ron reached the door first out of the group and hammered on it while the rest caught their breath as they came to a halt. On the other side, they could hear Fang barking wildly at the knocking, excited for visitors.
"What's the matter? What's all the ruckus about?" Hagrid demanded, opening the door a crack, only to pause as he saw who it was.
"Hagrid!" Neville panted. "Don't… don't do what you're thinking of doing!"
"Beg pardon?" the large man muttered.
"Hagrid, we know you've got a dragon egg in there," Harry gasped out. Seeing the Groundskeeper's eyes widen told them that yes, that was indeed the case.
"I dun know what yer talking about," Hagrid tried to deflect.
"Hagrid, if we could figure it out, other people will do so as well," Susan pointed.
"It's crazy that you're trying to hatch a dragon in a wooden house, by the way," Hannah stated.
"My home's fireproofed. You don't think I'd building a flammable hut near the Forbidden Forest, do ya?" Hagrid replied. "And, err, I still don't know why you think I have a dragon egg. Which I don't!"
Harry shot him an incredulous look. "Hagrid… a roaring fire plus enough firewood to build an extension to your hut? You borrowing all the books in the library on dragons? I bet if we looked around we'd see evidence of you going on hunts for fresh meat or whatever it is dragon babies eat!"
"They're called whelps," Hagrid informed him. "And they eat meat that's been seared or slightly burnt."
"You're just digging yourself deeper," Hannah muttered.
"Argh, fine!" Hagrid grumbled. "Come on in, then."
He ushered the group inside, then took out a cauldron from within the blazing fireplace.
"It's true, I got myself a dragon egg," he admitted, showing them the contents. Inside, a nice big egg could be seen, resting in a bunch of hot sand that filled the bottom of the cauldron. The shell was a beautiful bronze color, and it was smooth – and probably red hot to the touch.
"Bloody hell! That's a real dragon egg, alright," Ron muttered, then jerked back as the egg twitched violently within its 'nest.'
"It's it beautiful?" Hagrid sniffled.
"Yeah, in the 'spend ten years at best in Azkaban' sort of way," Hannah snarked. Hagrid didn't hear her, as he was too engrossed in caring for the egg.
"I'm thinking of naming 'em 'Norbert.' What do you think?" he asked the group.
"It's certainly… unique," Susan offered up with a weak smile. Hagrid just beamed.
The First Years didn't hang around the hut for much longer after that, and headed back to the castle to discuss their next move.
"A knut says Hagrid gets found out before the end of the school year," Ron said as they walked towards the looming structure.
"Sucker's bet, Ron," Neville scoffed.
"Yeah, I doubt he can keep a dragon secret. Like, at all," Susan said with a shake of her head. "He'd be parading it around the grounds on a leash soon as it can walk."
"That sounds… yeah, that sounds like a 'Hagrid' thing he'd do," Harry sighed. A thought then struck the dark-haired boy, and he turned to his red-haired friend.
"Ron? You said you had a brother who works in a dragon reserve?" Harry asked, and the youngest Weasley boy nodded slowly.
"Yeah, Charlie, over in Romania. Why?"
"I think we need somebody better equipped and trained to handle this," the Boy-Who-Lived claimed.
"You want to have someone come in and take the egg away before it can hatch?" Susan guessed.
"Yup," Harry confirmed. When Susan just nodded in agreement, he couldn't help but ask, "I thought you'd have something else to say about the idea. Isn't your aunt a law enforcer, or something?"
"Her Auntie Bones is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Hannah confirmed, causing Harry's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Yeah, she's pretty important," Susan said proudly. "And as such, I know all about the trouble she goes through at work. Opening up an investigation or whatever else that would happen if we told the authorities about Hagrid and his dragon egg would just make a lot of paperwork and busywork. Better to have someone solve the problem on the downlow."
"Well, you're the expert," Neville said, accepting the answer with a shrug.
"But, but that's… that's breaking the rules!" Hermione gasped in horror.
"Yeah, but it still solves the problem," Susan pointed out. "If Ron's brother can take the egg back, I don't see why we wouldn't do so. Besides, do you want to have people know Hagrid broke the law?"
"…No," Hermione admitted after a moment. "But it just feels… wrong."
"You know what they say, right? Rules were meant to be broken," Harry joked. Hermione let out an indignant gasp at that as her expression twisted one of shocked horror at his words, and it thankfully distracted her from what they were planning.
"So, which of us is going to break it to Hagrid he has to give up his dragon egg before it hatches?" Neville asked, looking around the group.
Harry shared a knowing glance with Ron before putting a finger to their noses, simultaneously shouting "Not it!" as they did so. Hannah and Susan quickly shouted it as well a moment later, and even Neville caught on, exclaiming the words, leaving Hermione perplexed and looking at them in confusion before realizing what had happened.
"Ugh, fine, I'll tell him!" Hermione groaned.
"So, what was that you two just did?" Susan asked.
"It's called the Nose Game," Harry explained.
"Edward taught you that game too, huh?" Ron guessed.
"He did," Harry nodded. "Great way to solve an argument about who has to do something."
"That it is," Ron agreed, before frowning. "Although the Twins are way too good at it. They're always faster than everyone else."
"Speaking of, I'm going to send him a letter," Harry announced. "I think between this egg thing with Hagrid and figuring out why Snape tried to hex me during my match, we won't have much time to do any more investigating on Nicholas Flamel."
"Mm. Makes sense," Neville agreed.
"I'll write to Charlie, then. Hopefully he can help us," Ron said, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Well, let's pray this is the last of the excitement we have to deal with for the year," Harry said hopefully. For some reason, Hannah burst into a giggling fit while Hermione and Susan tried to stifle their own snorts of amusement.
When Harry looked to Ron and Neville for help, they just shrugged.
"Yeah, sorry mate, but you kinda tempted fate just now," Ron said.
"Don't worry, Harry, we'll stand with you, no matter what trouble you end up getting in to," Neville promised.
"Oi! Why do you make it sound like this is all my fault?!" Harry demanded petulantly, which only sparked a fresh round of laughter from the girls. "I mean it! I'm not a trouble magnet! I'm not!"
Nobody believed his protests, sadly, and the trek back into the castle was a mirthful one for five out of six students in their little group.
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