On the second Thursday of May, Ted and his friends made their way to Hagrid's hut for another visit with Norbert.
Ted had initially estimated that the dragon's growth would be fast, but even he had underestimated it.
In just over a week, Norbert had grown to the size of a large dog. The once manageable hatchling had now become a full-blown menace.
The warm spring air barely fazed Hagrid, who was still wrapped up in his thick moleskin coat and dragonskin gloves, struggling to contain the rambunctious Norwegian Ridgeback.
Norbert, full of energy and mischief, thrashed about wildly, gnawing and clawing at anything in sight.
Even Fang, the usually timid half-breed hound, had fallen victim to Norbert's chaos, yelping in pain after the young dragon had swiped at him with his tail.
Hagrid, reluctant to discipline the creature too harshly, found himself completely overwhelmed.
And then, disaster struck. In a brief lapse of attention, Norbert sunk his sharp teeth into Ron's hand.
"Ow! Bloody hell, that hurts!" Ron yelped, pulling his hand back in pain.
A small puncture wound was visible, but that wasn't the worst part. Dragon saliva was known to be toxic.
"Bloody hell," Ted muttered. "We need to get him to the hospital wing. Now."
By the time they were halfway to the castle, Ron's hand had swollen to the size of a Quidditch Quaffle. His fingers looked more like overgrown carrots—bright red, swollen, and throbbing.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked as they stumbled into the hospital wing.
Harley, thinking quickly, blurted out, "He got bitten by a weird bug!"
Madam Pomfrey raised an unimpressed eyebrow, her expression screaming,
'Do you think I was born yesterday?'
Nevertheless, she got to work, treating Ron's hand with an antidote that left it wrapped in thick layers of bandages.
By the time he walked out, he looked like he had just come back from battle.
Despite their efforts to keep Malfoy from tailing them, Ron's war-wounded hand was far too noticeable.
Malfoy had already been suspicious before, but now his suspicions were confirmed.
Ted and the others knew they had a problem. Norbert was growing too fast. If they didn't act soon,
Hagrid's hut wouldn't just be in shambles—it would be burnt to the ground. Even Hagrid, who was fiercely protective of his baby dragon, had to admit the obvious.
"We can't keep 'im," Hagrid mumbled dejectedly, rubbing Norbert's snout as the dragon nipped playfully at his gloves. "He's too wild."
"Too wild?" Ted scoffed. "Hagrid, this thing is one bad day away from setting the entire Forbidden Forest on fire."
But how were they supposed to deal with a rapidly growing dragon?
Releasing Norbert into the Forbidden Forest was out of the question.
The dragon had no natural predators, could fly, and would likely cause absolute chaos.
If left unchecked, it might even try to snatch some poor soul and carry them off like a boss fight waiting to happen.
Then Ron had an idea.
"My brother Charlie works with dragons in Romania. He could take Norbert."
Charlie had graduated from Hogwarts the previous year and had since joined a dragon research and training team.
Their facility, the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, specialized in raising and managing dragons, both to keep them hidden from Muggles and to harvest valuable materials like dragon blood and scales—ethically, of course.
Ron quickly wrote to Charlie, explaining the situation. By the weekend, a response arrived.
Charlie agreed. He and a few of his colleagues would fly over on broomsticks next Saturday night to take Norbert off their hands—quietly, of course.
Official channels weren't an option, considering the dragon's less-than-legal origins.
The group was relieved. Finally, a solution!
Unfortunately, things didn't go as smoothly as planned.
Hagrid, being the sentimental giant that he was, had written a letter to Ted and the others confirming the plan.
However, instead of using a trusted owl, he had used the school's public owl.
Malfoy intercepted the letter.
At the time, Ted and the others had no idea that Malfoy had caught wind of their plan.
He, however, saw this as the perfect opportunity to get them all in trouble.
Saturday night arrived, and the Gryffindor quartet—Harley, Ron, Jerry, and Neville—took charge of transporting Norbert to the Astronomy Tower.
Ted and the others remained on alert, but they trusted Harley's team to handle the mission.
They covered the large wooden crate containing Norbert with Harley's Invisibility Cloak and used a Levitation Charm to float it up to the tower. Everything went smoothly—Charlie's team arrived, took Norbert, and left.
Mission accomplished.
Or so they thought.
As Harley and the others descended the stairs, relieved that everything had gone according to plan, three familiar figures stepped out from the shadows.
Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, grinned triumphantly.
"Out for a little midnight stroll?" Malfoy sneered. "Or maybe… smuggling an illegal dragon out of the castle?"
Harley and the others froze.
Malfoy's smirk widened. "Oh, this is too good. If I tell Snape, you lot will be scrubbing cauldrons until the end of the year. Or better yet… expelled!"
He had waited too long for this moment. The anticipation built up in his chest, a thrill running through his veins.
This was it—the ultimate comeback. The tables had finally turned.
Harley stood tall, her emerald eyes narrowing as she glared at Malfoy. "You again, Malfoy? What do you want this time?"
Malfoy chuckled, the kind of villainous laugh that wouldn't be out of place in a Saturday morning cartoon.
"What do I want? Heh… heh… heh…" He grinned, practically vibrating with smug satisfaction. "I want the dragon. Hand it over, and maybe I won't have to tell the professor."
Harley raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh? You want a dragon now?"
The smirk on Malfoy's face wavered slightly, but he quickly recovered, giving a dismissive wave. "Naturally. Raising dragons without a permit is very illegal. But lucky for you, I have connections."
He straightened his posture, puffing out his chest. "My father could pull some strings. Imagine—a Malfoy owning a dragon! It would be given the best care possible. So why don't you do yourself a favor and hand it over? It's good for everyone."
At this moment, Malfoy felt unstoppable, his ego soaring like a phoenix in flames. This was his moment of triumph. This was—
Too good to be true.
Harley, however, only snorted, shaking her head. "Pfft. Are you even listening to yourself? You sound ridiculous."
Malfoy's grin faltered. "You…!" He clenched his fists, his earlier glee quickly dissipating. "You can't hide it forever! Just give me the dragon, and I swear I'll take good care of it!"
Harley exchanged a glance with Ron, who still had his hand wrapped in thick bandages from Norbert's bite.
She then turned back to Malfoy, feigning deep thought. "Hmm… let's see… You, take care of a dragon? You?"
Her lips twitched upward. "You sure you're tougher than Ron here?"
Malfoy scoffed. "Oh, please! It's just a dragon bite. I wouldn't have been stupid enough to get bitten in the first place!"
Ron scowled. "Oi!"
Harley leaned forward slightly, her voice teasing. "Ohhh, so you want a dragon bite? Well, that can be arranged. I'm sure Norbert would love to sink his teeth into you."
Malfoy gulped. "I… I didn't say that! I just…!" He exhaled sharply, trying to regain his composure.
"Look, let's not be hasty. I'll make you a deal. Give me the dragon, and I'll never bother you again. I'll even—"
Harley smirked. "Too late. I already sent it away."
Silence.
Malfoy blinked. Then blinked again. "…What?"
"You heard me," Harley said, unable to hide the amusement in her voice.
"Norbert's gone. Flew away, off to a nice, safe place."
Malfoy's expression twisted, cycling between disbelief and betrayal. "No… No way! You're lying!"
Before Harley could respond, a sharp voice rang through the corridor.
"Who's out there?! Wandering the halls at this hour?"
The group froze as Professor McGonagall emerged from around the corner, her night robe swishing behind her.
Her stern gaze swept over them, and in that moment, even Malfoy forgot about the dragon.
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Word count: 1462
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