[63]:Slytherin Maneuvers (Pt. 1)

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14 April 1992

To Harry's amazement, and despite the presence of a homicidal dark lord and a Git-Who-Lived sharing the same school, second semester had been almost ... boring. Hermione's study group survived the loss of Lavender and Parvati, although there was almost a mutiny when she announced in the middle of March that she wanted to start revising for the end-of-term exams. The Gryffindor Four (as Jim, Ron, Dean and Seamus came to be known) improved dramatically in Potions class under Lavender's tutelage ... at least until Draco in a display of childishness began to sabotage Jim's potions on a regular basis. Jim could never prove it to Snape's satisfaction, not that Snape needed much of a reason to dock points from "The Other Potter," as the Potions Master insisted on calling Jim even to his face.

Practically the only excitement in the first three months had come during the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match back in February. Madame Hooch had apparently come down with some minor ailment and couldn't referee, and so Snape, inexplicably, was pressed into service as her replacement. Harry and Blaise privately concluded that he must have lost a bet to one of the other professors. The man's general disdain for Quiddich was well-known, and Harry was surprised that he even knew the rules well enough to officiate. In fact, many of the Slytherins were taking bets themselves on whether Snape would just start making up rules in order to penalize the Gryffindors. Apparently, the Lions were afraid of the same thing because Jim was so focused he caught the Snitch in under five minutes – a new school record – much to the embarrassment of the Badgers' somewhat cocky new Seeker, Third Year Cedric Diggory.

This early morning found Harry sitting in the Library reading the disguised Occlumency book Snape had given him. It was Tuesday, and classes were canceled, as most students would be leaving that afternoon for Easter Break and not returning until the next Monday evening. Unfortunately, quite a few more Slytherins were staying at school than had remained over the Christmas holidays. This annoyed Harry, as he'd hoped to spend time in the Lair when there were no students around, but both Seventh Year prefects were staying behind to study for their upcoming NEWTS, and their respective rooms were on either side of the Lair's entrance.

Hermione and Neville sat across the table from Harry studying when the door to the Library opened up and, to Harry's surprise, Hagrid entered. He'd had a few reasonably decent interactions with the half-giant, but they weren't on close terms. In fact, Hagrid actually seemed somewhat nervous around Harry, who assumed that Jim and Ron had poisoned the man against him with anti-Slytherin propaganda. Regardless, the spectacle of Hagrid in the Hogwarts Library was enough to catch Harry's interest. He was further intrigued when Hermione and Neville began watching Hagrid intently while trying (and failing) to be discreet about it. Hagrid himself was equally amusing as he sought to make his way stealthily through the Library to the section on Magical Creatures and then back out again with several books about dragon-breeding. It was like watching an elephant trying to tip-toe. As he left, Neville and Hermione followed him with their eyes. Then, they looked at each other and proceeded to exchange a series of truly remarkable glares and facial expressions with the (completely unsuccessful) intention of communicating with one another while keeping Harry out of the loop. The gist of it, he intuited easily, was that Neville wanted Hermione to tell Harry about what Hagrid was up to, presumably to get Harry's advice, but for some reason, she was reluctant. Finally, their efforts at Gryffindor "subtlety" became too excruciating to watch, so he put his book down and raised a privacy shield.

"So," he said brightly. "Hagrid's breeding dragons, I take it?"

They both looked at him in shock. "How did you know that?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't. I guessed and you just confirmed it. How far along is he?"

Hermione wouldn't answer, so Neville finally said, "Little Norbert is supposed to hatch in another week or two."

"Norbert?! Of course. That's ... that's adorable. Plus, we've already reached the 'accessory before the fact' stage! Tell me, Hermione, have you looked up the sentence for illegal dragon-breeding yet?" Harry asked with a smirk.

The witch seemingly couldn't decide whether to be more annoyed with Harry or worried about Hagrid. "A minimum of three years in Azkaban," she finally said.

"Hmm. Well, I wouldn't worry. I'm sure that's just for grown-ups. Any minor accomplices will just be expelled. So, Neville, I'm guessing that you want sneaky Slytherin advice on how to resolve this calamity in the making, but I'm curious as to why Hermione here doesn't want to involve me. Dare I hope it's because she cares enough about me to not want me to get a criminal record?" He wriggled his eyebrows at her.

Hermione scoffed. "No! I mean, I don't want anyone to get a criminal record. It's just ... I know you're a Slytherin and we're Gryffindors but..." she turned to Neville in annoyance. "We shouldn't have to ask Harry every time we need a cunning plan. Gryffindors can be cunning when we need to be!

Summoning incredible reserves of will, Harry did not laugh out loud. Neville just shook his head. "Hermione," he said despairingly. "Right now the closest thing we have to a cunning plan is the one Ron came up with."

Harry did snicker at that, albeit apologetically. "Sorry. You're going with the Weasel's plan? Please tell me what it is. I need something to brighten my day."

The two Lions glared at him. "It's not that bad," Hermione said in a huff. "Ronald's brother Charlie works at a dragon sanctuary in Romania. In a few weeks, after the dragon hatches and has grown a bit, some of his friends will fly over via broom from Romania and pick up the caged dragon from the Astronomy Tower. Then, they'll fly it back to the sanctuary."

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