Harry Potter and the Dragon

VII

If

Harry had been roaming inside the mansion long enough without finding Hagrid to consider his intrusion a good idea. He was scared. The fire he had seen from the distance while flying kept on popping into his mind as he, pacing down the dark corridors, perceived the distinctive smell of burned stuff. It's strange, some things seem to be scorched but others look intact to me. Is this the home of a pyromaniac?

After some time, he found a narrow flight of stairs that led to what appeared to be a tower. Instinctively he climbed it, calling Hagrid non-stop.

"Harry? Harry, is that yeh?"

"HAGRID!" Harry launched at what he thought was the door which separated him from his foster father.

"Harry?" called Hagrid, his voice expressing doubt.

"YES! Hagrid, what's wrong? What happened?"

"I'm alrigh', Harry, I'm fine. Jus' a li'l bit deaf, tha's all. Bu' HARRY! Wha' are yeh doin' ere?! Why did yeh come?! Yeh 'ave ter go away NOW!"

"Are you mad? I won't leave without you! Listen, I'll get you outta there, just wait a minute! I brought my wand, I'll Alohomora you out -"

"No Harry! Yeh don' understan'! Yeh gotta leave! There's a monster! A terrible monster! Yeh shouldn' 'ave come -!"

"How can you say that? D'you think I'll run for my life leaving you here?"

"So wha'? After all tha' has happen'd today, I'm convinc'd I'm a good fer nuttin'. Couldn' handle Beaky, couldn' deal with those mules, couldn' even stan' up ter that dragon -"

"A dragon? Here?" said Harry disbelievingly, but then he realized that that was a good explanation for the flames he had seen before and the smell of charcoal that engulfed the place. "Well, we have yet another reason to escape," he added, trying to suppress a note of fright in his voice.

But before he could even utter the incantation of the unlocking spell, the tower door opened softly. To the noise of the hinges, Harry turned around. "Who's there?"

Nobody answered.

"Fuck, it can't be the dragon, can it?" asked Harry in hushed tones.

"Are you talking to me, Harry?" asked Hagrid from his cell.

But Harry didn't answer for he was speechless, astounded, and what's more, panic-frozen. On the doorframe stood the erect and dark outline of what Harry thought could only be the lap dog of the most gothic and grotesque of the versions of Satan ever conceived. It was a dragon, probably taller that Hagrid's cabin, whose only outstanding feature was the icy gray of the evil glint his two eyes emanated. The creature was standing still and silent. Harry didn't know what to do. It was instinct what led the boy to apologize.

"I-I'm sorry I trespassed, but-but I was looking for my friend and... and... " He turned around, like showing the beast with his eyes a Hagrid that was behind a solid iron door.

"So... that wretched git over there's your friend, isn't he?" asked the beast rather warily, a tone that sounded a little bit out of place for such a monstrous being.

"Yeah, actually, yes..." said Harry, heart pounding.

"Are you a wizard, by any chance?" asked the dragon in his former tones.

"Well, yeah... Yeah, and my friend too," replied Harry, thinking that Hagrid had exaggerated the note.

"Never mind your friend. Is this the first time you visit this manor?" Now the dragon sounded if not worried, nervous.

"Yeah, I think so. Why though? Is there any problem?" asked Harry concernedly.

"You're not lying to me, prat, aren't you?"

"No! No! Why should I do that? Listen...I expect my friend didn't cause any trouble -"

"SHUT UP!!! JUST, SHUT UP!!!" The beast's voice boomed through the tower.

Harry was paralyzed. Had he said something wrong?

"LISTEN, YOU FUCKING RETARD! IF YOU'RE LYING TO ME YOU'LL SEE WHAT - YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I DO TO BASTARDS THAT LIE TO ME!!! YOU JUST WAIT TO SEE!!! JUST WAIT -!!!"

The dragon fell silent all of a sudden. He was breathing fast. Harry, on the contrary, had his heart fixed in an expanded position. When his beats continued, they were so quick that it felt like an uninterrupted noise instead of a paused one.

"LISTEN TO ME, STUPID! I'LL RELEASE YOUR DAMN FRIEND IF YOU STAY HERE FOREVER, OKAY? DID I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? DID YOU GET WHAT I SAID? YOU'LL STAY HERE FOREVER! AND EVER! AND DON'T EVEN THINK OF RUNNING AWAY 'CAUSE I'LL FIND YOU, AND WHEN I DO THAT, YOU'LL WISH YOU'D NEVER RUN AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE, FOR THE WAY I'LL BEAT YOU YOU'LL BE WANTING TO BE DEAD AND BURIED AND COVERED BY WORMS WHO'LL BE EATING YOU NOT AS PAINFULLY AS I'LL BE PLUCKING YOUR FUCKING MEAT LITTLE BY LITTLE, TO THE RHYTHM OF YOUR FUCKING, DISGUSTING SCREAMS! CLEEEAR?!! CLEEEEAR?!!!!"

The dragon advanced, opened the cell door, grabbed Hagrid and went out the tower, and all the while Harry was so shocked that his mind kept blanked for a whole minute after the beast had left. When he came to his senses, he found himself locked in what had been Hagrid's prison and, realizing his situation, he left his body collapse on a heap of straw, eyes wide open, pupils contracted, and the pressing thought that that was not really happening at all.