Kapitel 93: Chapter - 93 : Night in the Restricted Section part - 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loving the story and can't wait for more? By supporting my Patreon, you'll get exclusive early access to over 100+ chapters ahead of what's posted here!

Your support not only fuels more exciting content but also gives you the chance to be part of a vibrant community of fellow fans.

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

http//patreon.com/NAnami725

Join us on Patreon and unlock the full adventure today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I looked up in surprise as Ron spoke up. Hagrid shuffled into view from a thin aisle, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat. In fact, his coat looked like it could be used to bind most of the aisle.

"Jus' lookin'," he said dodgily, instantly piquing our interest. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron proudly. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"What was Ron bout to say?" I hissed, leaning over to Harry. I knew about Flamel, but I had no idea they'd figured out what was actually under Fluffy's trapdoor. Once again I felt the pang of exclusion.

He shook his head. "Tell you later." He looked up at Hagrid determinedly. "There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," he continued, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy-"

"SHHHH!" Hagrid hissed again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-"

"See you later, then," said Harry, and Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione mused thoughtfully."Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, leaping up.

"I'll help!" I said, lunging to my feet and hustling after him, leaving Harry alone with Hermione. He gave me a betrayed look and I wiggled my fingers tauntingly.

"What's in here?" I muttered, looking at the shelves. At first they all seemed to be varied topics, but I quickly picked out the key that linked all the books. Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland. From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide.

Ron and I exchanged incredulous looks and chorused, "Dragons."

Each of us seized a book and hurried back to the table, tossing them down for Harry and Hermione to see.

"Dragons!" Ron whispered furiously. "Hagrid's looking at stuff about dragons!"

Harry looked up at me, recalling. "Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told us so the first time we ever met him, remember?"

"But it's against our laws," Ron insisted. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" Harry asked. I caught him glancing at the window nervously, like he expected one to swoop by with a pretty Ravenclaw in its claws or something.

"Of course there are," I answered. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I talk to Hagrid a lot," I admitted stiffly. "And I like animals."

"Well, Lorena's right." Ron nodded. "The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione worriedly.

We knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later. I leaned around, trying to peer around the closed curtains.

Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let us in, hustling us through the door and then shutting it quickly behind us. I jumped as the door nearly caught on the hem of my robe and scooted further into the cabin.

It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid didn't seem to mind the heat, to at least, he seemed to have accepted it. He poured them tea as If the cabin was as balmy as usual and offered stoat sandwiches like it was any other day.

We took the tea, but refused the sandwiches.

"So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid finally asked once he'd run out of things to offer us. I took a sip of my tea and made a face, adding a couple of sugar cubes to it before taking another sip.

"Yes," said Harry bluntly. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone… apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him. "O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all?"

"The break in was the same day we went to Gringotts," I recalled.

Hagrid grunted. "Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione warmly. I rolled my eyes at her blatant flattery. It seemed to be working though, because Hagrid's beard twitched and I could tell he was smiling.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," Hermione continued. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him… apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione. I rolled my eyes once more.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... let's see... he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall." Hagrid ticked them off on his fingers. "Professor Quirrell – an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

I braced for the explosion. "Snape?" I closed my eyes. There it was.

"Yeah," Hagrid said, blinking at the shout. "Yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loving the story and can't wait for more? By supporting my Patreon, you'll get exclusive early access to over 100+ chapters ahead of what's posted here!

Your support not only fuels more exciting content but also gives you the chance to be part of a vibrant community of fellow fans.

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

http//patreon.com/NAnami725

Join us on Patreon and unlock the full adventure today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~