Norwegian Ridgeback

As Ron, Harry, Hermione and I step into Hagrid's hut we see Harid huddled over a small fire staring intently at it. He is too distracted by something in the fire and doesn't even realize us as we walk in till Harry speaks up.

"Hagrid…" Harry says tapping him on the back.

Hagrid seems to jump as he turns around "I ain't got nothin… Oh, it's only you kids. Don't go sneakin up on me."

"We knocked" I speak up "A few times." The trio nod along with my words.

"Ah, sorry bout that. Bit busy." He says turning back to the fire.

"What are you doing? Hermione asks peaking around him, we all follow suit.

"Hagrid!... where did you get that? It must have cost you a fortune." Ron says excitedly.

As I peer into the pot I see a large egg nearly 10 inches tall. It's sitting directly in the fire, but rather than getting brittle it looks like heated up metal glowing a bit from the heat.

"What is it?" I ask Ron.

"A Dragon egg!" He answers still excited. My brows raise in surprise as I turn to Hagrid in search if answers.

"I won er' in a bet, Las' night I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards. He was a shady bloke, covered' emself head to toe in a dark robe with a long hood, and seemed happy to get rid o' er'" Hagrid says proudly.

I shake my head at how shady it sounds already. 'But why?' I mutter to myself trying to understand the thoughts of the hooded figure.

"And what are you planning to do with it once it is hatched?" Hermione asks with a bit of attitude.

"Well, I've bin doin' a bit o' readin'," he pulls a large book out of his huge overcoat. "'Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit' Says here they breathe fire on em' to hatch em so I figured if I keep er' in the fire it otta hatch eh'?" He looks happy at his great idea.

I squeeze the bridge of my nose "Hagrid, you live in a wooden hut…"

He ignores me and continues to tend the flames. I roll my eyes at his dismissive attitude; I shake my head staring at the thatch roof above our heads.

Seeing he doesn't care I just sigh. "Just be sure to tell us when It starts to hatch," He gives a nod. I turn to the others "So since we are here do you guys wanna do the homework?"

"Yeah!" "NO!" Hermione and Ron said at the same time while Harry just shrugs.

I look at Ron with a confused face "Would you rather do the Herbology homework by yourself?"

He looks genuinely upset "I would rather not do it at all."

"Ron… you have a D in Herbology. I thought you wanted to be a Head Boy? When has a Head Boy ever had a D in Herbology?" I say as if I'm talking to a child which I'm sure he hated.

"Ugh fine," Ron says pulling out his homework.

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A few days later during breakfast, I get a letter from Hagrid, it only had two words on it: 'It's Hatching.'

"Guy's 'It' is hatching," I say to the trio sitting next to me. "We are skipping Herbology right?"

"No, out of the question." Hermione flat-out refuses.

"Come on Hermione, how many times are you going to see a dragon hatching?" Ron says louder than I would like.

"Ron, ssshhh" I whisper while Harry covers his mouth.

"Sowwy" I hear Ron say muffled under Harry's hand.

We manage to convince her to come along and we all begin to head towards Hagrid's cabin. As we are walking away from the group heading to Herbology I notice Malfoys gaze linger on us but he looks away as soon as we meet eyes. As we reach Hagrids hut he opens the door for us looking absolutely ecstatic.

Once we all get inside Hagrid rushes to the fire putting on large cotton cooking mittens. He grabs the egg off the fire as it begins to crack and places it on the table. We watch the egg intently to see what kind of dragon comes out.

The egg finally cracks open and a small 3 inches tall 6-inch long green dragon breaks out with a cute little roar. I say roar but it was more like a long yipe. It has a small set of horns with tiny horns running along its spine and 5 horns on its tail pointing in different directions.

"A Norwegian Ridgeback! Those are rare!" Ron calls out. I want to question why Ron is so knowledgeable but I just ignore it.

It sneezes a few times, sparks fly from its mouth each time it sneezes.

"Isn't she a beaut?" Hagrid asks with tears in his eyes while reaching out to stroke its small head. The Ridgeback snaps at his fingers nearly getting him.

"Bless him, he even knows his mum," Hagrid said tears threatening to fall.

"How big do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow Hagrid?" Hermione asks.

Hagrid was about to answer when he suddenly grew pale and looked choked up. He was staring at the window with wide eyes before running at it opening the curtain.

Opening the curtain you could see the back of a kid running towards the castle, he had seen it…

"Malfoy," I say in a low voice while Harry nods at my words. The classic platinum blonde hair can't be mistaken even at this distance... I should try to catch him later.

"Why not set the dragon free?" Harry suggests.

"Can't he's too little, he would die. I've decided to call him Norbert, come on Norbert, come to mum." Hagrid says looking affectionately at the dragon who is starting back blankly.

I look over at Ron "What about your brother, he can take him can't he?"

Ron's face lights up "Yeah Charlie can take him! Brilliant! Charlie can put him back in the wild, how about it Hagrid?"

Hagrid looks down but after a little consulting agrees and Ron immediately writes a letter to Charlie and Harry sends Hedwig on her way.

The next night Harry, Ron, and I sneak out to play with Norbert in his small cage near Hagrid's hut. When I went to pet him he is looking at me curiously tilting his from side to side as he slowly moves closer. He sniffs my hand before rubbing his head against my palm and I pet him properly with a big grin on my face.

I have always been a sucker for cute creatures, haven't I? I hold my palm out and it rests its head there looking up at me like a puppy.

As I pull away I hear a screech come from above me, as I look up I see Shy flying down landing on my shoulder. Shy leans forward and immediately nips at the dragon as if it is a mouse, causing it to roar and back away. Sparks fly from its mouth as it threatens Shy. I just laugh and back away holding Shy to keep him from nipping at the baby dragon again.

When I back away Ron takes the chance to try and pet the dragon but immediately gets bitten.

"OUCH!" he yells as he holds out his bleeding hand. "It bit me! I won't be able to hold a quill for a week!" he complains.

"Duh, it's a dragon," I say and Harry laughs. "You'll wanna go to Madam Pomfrey about that, I'm pretty sure they are venomous."

He is wrapping around a handkerchief around the wound as I'm talking. "They are? They are... Am I going to die?" He questions his own knowledge before going pale.

I roll my eyes "Probably not, just get it checked in the morning. Let's go before Filch finds us." I begin walking away and Harry follows me putting on the cloak.

As I'm walking away I hear Ron's whimpering voice "What do you mean 'Probably'"