Stormseeker: Borrowed Destiny

Chapter 8: Norbert

---

It would figure that, on the morning of the very day that I'd calculated that I would chronologically turn eleven years old, I would fall down a staircase and break my neck.

I wake up again with a sigh and rub my eyes. I haven't normally been quite so clumsy, but the gravity still catches me by surprise on occasion. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. I've been here for nine months, after all. At least it was still early in the morning, before breakfast. I won't need to dig into the box of Wideye Potions that Professor Snape kindly provided me. I haven't actually died a lot lately, which I'm sure he'll appreciate, so today's incident is a little embarrassing.

I get cleaned up again, get dressed, and head out again, more cautiously this time. I glance around as I approach the fatal staircase in question. Nothing seems amiss. A handful of students are heading to breakfast, and I think I spot Professor Quirrell's purple turban nearby. I go to head down the stairs, one step at a time, taking care not to rush and trip. And yet, about five steps down, something invisible seems to snag my leg, and I go tumbling. I try to catch myself or grab the railing, but it's no use.

This time, I land in such a way that I don't instantly snap my neck. I almost wish I had, though, considering that I hurt all over. I'll have bruises at the very least, and that's assuming that nothing is broken. Thankfully there was nobody else on the stairs at the time.

"Harry!" Neville says, rushing up to me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alive," I say with a groan. "Help me to the hospital wing, will you, Neville?"

Neville puts an arm around me and helps me to my feet. Well, my legs aren't broken, at least. "Usually it's me who's having accidents," Neville comments.

"Hey, I'm almost as bad as you sometimes," I say, laughing softly, then immediately regretting it. Laughing hurts. "We can be the Clumsy Twins."

Once at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey gives me a look over, and gets some potions into me. "Three broken ribs. Mr. Potter, you're lucky you didn't break your neck!"

"I think I don't really care much for luck," I say dryly. I think, in addition to my time travel powers, I must be a bad luck magnet, as well. Either that or they make me reckless, but it's not like I was exactly being reckless this time!

"Run along to breakfast now, Mr. Longbottom," Madam Pomfrey says. "And thank you for bringing Mr. Potter to me."

She insists on keeping me in here through breakfast, and I fear she'll make me stay here all day. "But Madam Pomfrey," I say. "I want to go to class! I've got Potions today, and I'm bad enough at that as it is!" I'm getting a little better, though.

"You could have been seriously hurt, you realize," Madam Pomfrey says.

"I know," I say. Abyss, do I know. I could have been killed.

"But I see no reason to keep you any longer," Madam Pomfrey says. "Go on, now."

Thanks to her nagging, not only did I miss breakfast, but I'm almost fifteen minutes late to Potions as well. Professor Snape has already started in on today's lecture, and stops to give me an eye as I come in.

"Finally cared to join us, Mr. Potter?" Snape says.

"Sorry, sir," I reply. "I was in the hospital wing."

"He fell down a staircase," Neville supplies helpfully in a small voice.

"I see," Snape says. "Take your seat and we shall continue. I trust that you have read the material already, so I need not repeat myself."

"Yes, sir," I say sheepishly.

---

The first weekend of April, Ron, Neville, and I are in the library studying, and we spot Hagrid there, of all people. I curiously peer over to see what he's up to, and notice that he's reading From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon Keeper's Guide. Well, that's certainly worthwhile reading material! I wonder why he's looking it up. I go over to approach him, and he practically jumps when he spots me at his elbow.

"Don't sneak up on someone like that!" Hagrid says.

"Sorry," I say, grinning faintly. "I just wanted to see what you were up to. Dragons are awesome, aren't they?"

"Shhh!" Hagrid says. Oh, now I know he's up to something. He's always terrible at keeping a secret.

"Sorry!" I say again, more quietly, and grinning even more broadly. "So what're you up to?"

"Let's not talk here," Hagrid says. "Meet me out at my hut if you really want to know."

After he's out of earshot, Ron whispers to me, "You don't suppose he's going to try to raise a dragon himself, is he?"

"This is Hagrid," I point out. "Shall we go see what he's up to?"

"Let's," Neville says.

We head downstairs and out across to Hagrid's hut, knock on the door, and head inside. It's stifling hot in here, and all the curtains are closed. Yeah, he's definitely hiding something. It's a fairly warm day out, but he's got a blazing fire going. And in the middle of the fire, there's a large round object.

"Good day, kids," Hagrid greets us a little uneasily.

"Hello, Hagrid," I say. "So, is this it?" I point to the black ball in the fire.

"Whoa," Ron says. "Is that a dragon egg?"

"Er," Hagrid says. "Yeah, yeah it is."

"That's awesome!" I say. "Where'd you get a dragon egg?"

"Won it in a game of cards down at the Hog's Head," Hagrid says.

"What are you going to do with it when it hatches?" Neville wonders.

"I've been doing some reading on the subject," Hagrid says. "How to feed them and care for them and all."

"Can I help?" I say eagerly. "I love dragons!"

"But dragons grow fast," Ron says. "You won't be able to keep it in the house. And since they're illegal, you don't want someone who'll turn you in to catch you with it."

"I'll keep it out in the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid says. "Lots of critters out there."

I frown a little. I don't like keeping secrets from Dumbledore and Snape. But, it's a dragon! This will be amazing! And what harm could it do? And Dumbledore practically encouraged me to sneak around and break rules when he gave me the invisibility cloak. Obviously, he doesn't think all the rules apply to me.

"I suppose," Ron says.

"This'll be great!" I say, beaming.

"If you lot want to raise a dragon, have at it," Neville says. "As for me, I don't fancy getting my fingers bitten off!"

"So what do baby dragons eat, anyway?" I wonder.

---

At breakfast one morning, Solomon flies in and drops me a note from Hagrid, stating only, "It's hatching." I'm practically bouncing with excitement. I'm going to get to see a dragon hatch!

"Come on," I say to Ron and Neville. "Let's just cut class and head on out there right now!"

"But we have Herbology this morning," Neville protests.

"Aw, you can look at plants anytime," I say, lowering my voice to a whisper. "How often will you get to see a dragon hatch? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

"Quiet!" Ron hisses. "I think Malfoy might've heard you."

"Besides," Neville says. "We'll get in all sorts of trouble if we're caught skiving off class. We can head out at break."

Reluctantly, I head off to Herbology with them. However, the minute we get out of class, I lead the way straight over to Hagrid's hut. I knock, and say, "It's us, Hagrid."

We head inside, and Hagrid says, "You're just in time."

The egg is cracked and shaking, and it looks like something is about to emerge. There's a soft clicking sound coming from inside, and bits of eggshell are starting to break off. Then, the egg breaks apart, and a small creature clumsily emerges. It's a beautiful, adorable baby, with slick black wings and enormous golden eyes.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" I say, reaching out to lightly stroke the hatchling.

Neville, keeping his distance, glances at the window. "Uh, I think I saw Malfoy out there."

"Crap," I say. "You don't think he saw, do you?"

"Dunno," Neville says. "With our luck? I bet he did."

"I really hate luck," I comment. I sigh, and say, "Nothing to be done about it now, I suppose. He'll either tell or he won't, but if he hasn't told anyone by the time we catch up to him next, we can either bribe him or threaten him if he snitches."

"But he's always got those two huge thugs with him," Neville says.

"I'm not scared of Crabbe and Goyle," I say dryly.

Ron tries to touch the little dragon, but it snaps at him and almost bites him, making him shy away. "So," Ron says, giving the hatchling some distance. "What are you going to call him?"

"I was thinking 'Norbert'," Hagrid says.

The baby dragon practically cooes under my touch, rubbing up against me in a friendly way. "Aw, I'm a daddy!" I say, laughing softly. I'm less than worried about what Draco might do. This is worth a year of detentions.

I manage to catch Draco after lunch in the corridors. I'm alone at the moment, but so is he. A stroke of luck. I pull him aside into an empty classroom.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Draco demands.

"Talking to you," I say. "In private."

"What do you want, Potter?" Draco asks.

"What did you see, earlier?" I ask.

"Hah," Draco says. "I know you've got a dragon out there! What is that big oaf thinking, trying to raise a dragon in a wooden hut?"

I nod. I thought as much. "Alright, then. What do you want?"

"What do you mean?" Draco says.

"For your silence," I say.

"Oh?" Draco says, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm trying to bribe you, damn it," I say.

"Hah!" Draco says. "A Gryffindor, resorting to bribery? I'd have thought you'd have had more foolish principles."

I snort softly. "I don't have any principles, Draco, and I'm not above bribery. I doubt you'd need money or anything, after all, but I'm sure you can think of something that would be worth your silence."

"Oh, this is too funny," Draco says, laughing. "Did losing your pet Mudblood make you lose your nerve?"

My blood boils. I force myself to stay calm. I am the eye of the storm. I'm not going to let him get to me. "Don't make me reconsider just hexing you, Draco," I say dangerously. "Make me an offer, before I change my mind."

"Still a sore spot, huh?" Draco says. "Alright, alright. Tell you what. I'm feeling gracious today. I'll keep my mouth shut, but you'll owe me... a favor."

"A favor," I repeat.

"And I can call that in whenever I want," Draco says. "Anything I want."

"Anything is an awfully broad subject," I say.

"And I can get you and your friends arrested if you refuse," Draco says.

"Very well," I say. "A favor. I agree to your terms."

Draco holds out his hand, and we shake on it. He seems entirely too gleeful about the prospect, which makes me more than a little uneasy. I dread to think what Draco might ask of me in the future. I wonder what the penalties for illegal possession of a dragon really are? I don't think I care to find out. I want to keep Norbert for myself. I don't want anyone to take him away from me. Which, even if we're let off with a fine or something, they no doubt would do.

---

I wind up spending every moment of my free time out with Hagrid and Norbert. Ron comes along a lot as well, and Neville occasionally joins us, too, but I'm the one who's out there almost all the time. If I didn't have an invisibility cloak, I'd be worried that someone would realize I'm spending way too much time at Hagrid's hut lately.

Norbert is growing extremely rapidly. He was such a cute little thing at first. And while he's still cute, after a couple weeks, we have to move him out to the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid doesn't like it, thinking it'll be too cold for him, but there's not much else we can do. We can hardly keep him in the hut forever. He'll wind up getting too big to get him out the door if we wait too long to move him. And while there might be spells to get around that, there's still the very real possibility of Norbert accidentally burning down Hagrid's hut, too.

Ron comes along with me the night we're moving Norbert to the forest. He's only slightly less afraid of getting bitten than Neville. Strangely, I'm the only one the dragon has never tried to bite. Maybe he recognizes me as kin, or something. I don't know. In the end, it takes all three of us to manage it, with Ron guiding us, Hagrid hauling the dragon, and me trying to keep Norbert calm along the way.

"Here you go, Norbert," Hagrid says. "Your new home. Don't worry, boy. Mommy and Daddy will visit you as much as we can. We'll bring plenty of food!"

We turn to leave, and Norbert tries to follow after us. "No, Norbert," I say firmly. "You have to stay here. Sorry. Daddy will be back, though. Stay here for Daddy, alright?"

Norbert makes a dejected squeaking sound, and I have to feel bad about leaving him out here all by himself. But eventually, he stays put and lets us leave. Hagrid returns to his head and bids us good night, and Ron and I head back into the castle.

As we reach the seventh floor, we come face to face with Filch, and it dawns on me in dread. We left the invisbility cloak back in Hagrid's hut. Crap.

"Well, well," Filch says. "Aren't we in trouble now?"

"Yes, Mr. Filch," I say sheepishly, looking at the floor.

"Bugger all," Ron mutters.

Filch takes us both down to Professor McGonagall's office, where we sit fidgeting and waiting for her to come. I feel particularly bad about him having to wake her up at this hour. What time is it, anyway? Wildly, I try to think up some excuse that she might actually believe. Sadly, I can't think of anything.

I glance to Ron, and the look on my face must say everything, since he murmurs, "I've got nothing, too."

Professor McGonagall finally appears, looking as though she might be about to breathe fire on us herself. I cringe a little inwardly, but try to make myself to stay calm. I am the eye of the storm. I won't be able to get anyone to listen to anything if I can't keep my emotions under rein.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall exclaims. "It's one o'clock in the morning. What are the two of you doing wandering around the castle at this hour? Explain yourselves."

"You're giving us a chance to explain ourselves?" I say with a touch of surprise. "I'd have thought you'd have just given us detention and been done with it!"

"If, by some unlikely chance, you have some legitimate excuse for being out of bed at such an hour, I'd like to hear it," McGonagall says.

"Well, in that case," I say. "I was attempting to prove that the House Cup is a waste of time and that we should be focusing on our studies rather than worrying about points. Also, I was kind of hoping to get detention with someone other than Professor Snape. I've been stuck with detention with him for the whole year, and it would be nice to have to do something else for a change."

"Your sarcasm does you no credit, Mr. Potter," McGonagall says.

"Seriously," I say. "Do you have any idea how many times we must have circled the castle before running across Filch? He clearly must be slacking if it took him until one in the morning to find us. It's not like we were even exactly hiding, after all."

"Very well," McGonagall says. "I'll give you the detention you've clearly gone out of your way to earn, but I see no need to punish the rest of your house for your attempts at losing points. You've expressed your disdain for the house points system on numerous occasions, so I doubt that would dissuade you anyway."

"Aw, man," I say. "Can't we even lose a single point? Come on."

"No, Mr. Potter," McGonagall says. "Now, back to bed with you both!"

"Okay, okay," I say, sighing. "And sorry that Filch had to wake you up."

Ron and I return to our common room. We barely manage to make it inside before Ron falls over laughing. "I can't believe you managed to pull that off!" Ron says.

"Me, either," I say. "I was just talking out of my ass. I thought we were going to lose points and get detention anyway, so I figured I might as well just come out and ask for them rather than offering an excuse, as it could hardly get any worse. I didn't think she'd actually buy it."

"Too bad she didn't let us off of detention, too," Ron says.

"Let's take what we can get," I say. "And at least we just left the cloak with Hagrid, rather than someplace somebody else might find it. We can go back and get it tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ron says. "Let's get to bed. I'm beat."

---

After retrieving the invisibility cloak from Hagrid, I continue to sneak out into the Forbidden Forest to visit Norbert, bringing food whenever I get the chance. I'm a lot more careful about it, now. I'll take my upcoming detention as a punishment for getting careless.

One evening, while heading out to the forest after dinner, I spot a hooded figure coming out of the castle and approaching the forest himself. I dare to take a closer look, protected by my cloak, and realize that it's Professor Snape! What's he doing? Maybe he's going to collect some ingredients for potions, or something. Still, my curiosity gets the better of me, so I follow along after him, feeling a little guilty about it nonetheless.

Snape comes to a dark clearing, but he's not alone. Professor Quirrell is with him. What's going on? Things just get stranger. Quietly, I creep closer to hear what they're saying.

"I d-d-don't know why you wanted to meet me out here, of all p-places," Quirrell says.

"I thought it best that we keep this business private, Quirrell," Snape says coldly.

"B-But the students aren't even supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone," Quirrell says. Philosopher's Stone? Is that what's being hidden in the school? I wonder what that might be.

Snape shakes his head, and says, "Have you figured out how to get past Hagrid's beast yet, Quirrell?"

"W-What?" Quirrell says. "I w-w-would never!"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," Snape says.

"What are you t-t-talking about?" Quirrell says.

"Oh, I think you know perfectly well what I mean," Snape says. "There's no use in feigning ignorance, although you're so good at that."

"I d-d-don't..." Quirrell says. Listening to his stutter is really starting to irritate me, considering I stopped paying much attention to what he says in Defense Against the Dark Arts class months ago.

Snape is obviously getting impatient with it as well. "Enough," he says. "I've made my point, I think. We'll have another little chat later. Think things over, Quirrell. Decide where your loyalties really lie. Decide whether you really want to do this."

Snape turns and leaves the forest, striding swiftly away, leaving Quirrell staring and stammering behind him. Well, that was interesting. Not what I came for, but very interesting. I trust Snape completely, of course, so obviously this means that Quirrell's loyalties are questionable somehow. I would have never thought it of him, but perhaps there's more to him than meets the eye.

But for now, there are steaks oozing sauce in my robes. I go out for my scheduled meeting with Norbert. I'll need to give him a good scratch to apologize for being late.