Chapter 100: The Infirmary
Chapter 100: The Infirmary
Pomfrey was highly skilled in healing magic, and the infirmary was well-stocked with potions. After a few bottles were administered, the Hungarian Horntail and the unicorn, originally in pain from their wounds, calmed down and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Professor McGonagall prepared to temporarily house the dragon on the Quidditch pitch, casting spells to create a barrier around it to prevent students from accidentally wandering in and getting hurt. As for the unicorn, it was allowed to rest near Sprout's greenhouse, where the plump witch happily provided a feast of berries and fresh oat grass.
The rest of the professors soon arrived, and Hogwarts was abuzz with activity late into the night, an unusual occurrence.
"A dragon!"
An odd little old man with a gleam in his eye rushed up to Norbert, his body bearing the scars of many injuries. He had wooden prosthetic legs and one prosthetic arm, and with his remaining hand, he gently stroked Norbert's black wings, excitedly exclaiming, "Hagrid, you should have told me you had a dragon!"
Professor McGonagall, who had just finished setting up the barrier, heard this and sternly replied, "Professor Kettleburn, private dragon breeding is a serious violation of the law!"
The anger of Hogwarts, which everyone feared, seemed to have no effect on the little old man. He grinned cunningly and said, "Don't be so stiff, Minerva! Who's illegally breeding dragons? This is clearly a wild baby dragon that wandered into Hogwarts from the Forbidden Forest because it was hungry. Our kind gamekeeper simply fed it some food! It's not illegal at all..."
"Oh... I never thought of that!" Hagrid suddenly realized, slapping his palm.
"Please don't encourage such behavior, Professor Kettleburn! Don't forget you're still on probation!" Professor McGonagall tried to maintain her stern expression but ended up laughing as she spoke.
"Yes, yes, sixty-two probations. But it doesn't matter, I'm about to retire anyway." Professor Kettleburn shrugged and then moved closer to the dragon, asking, "Does this child have a name, Hagrid?"
"His name is Norbert!" Hagrid said proudly. "I watched him hatch from his egg with my own eyes!"
"---He (he)?" Professor Kettleburn paused, took a closer look, and then laughed, "It should be 'she (she)'. This is a little girl!"
"What?" Hagrid was shocked and moved closer, and Professor Kettleburn began to teach him how to distinguish the gender of baby dragons.
"In that case, isn't it inappropriate to call her Norbert?" Hagrid quickly entered the state of a "silly father with a daughter," seemingly worried that his precious daughter might be discriminated against because of her name.
"How about Norbertia then?" Professor Kettleburn suggested, "It sounds like a girl's name and it's very cute."
"Oh, you two, there you are!" Madame Pomfrey suddenly appeared, eyeing Wied and Harry busily. "Come with me—Dumbledore said you might need a calming draught?"
"No, we're not scared," Wied said.
But Madame Pomfrey didn't listen, she took the two of them to the infirmary and forced a calming draught into each of their hands, saying, "Drink the potion and then get some sleep. It's almost dawn."
Wied recognized it as one of the potions he had brewed himself!
"Has Dumbledore returned?" Harry asked hurriedly as she turned to leave.
"How would I know, child?" Madame Pomfrey replied.
"But you said—he told you we needed calming draughts?"
"Harry insisted, "Who notified you?""
"Dumbledore sent his patronus," she replied.
"What's a patronus?"
"Drink the potion and get some rest, child," Madame Pomfrey said, her smile turning oppressive.
With no other choice, the two boys downed the calming draught, and sleepiness quickly washed over them.
...
The next morning, though no one had deliberately spread the word, it seemed like the entire student body knew about the events of the previous night. They rushed to catch a glimpse of the dragon and unicorn. After taking a turn to see the creatures, the SSC members learned that Wied and Harry had also been involved and hurried to the infirmary to find them.
"I heard someone attacked the dragon!" Hermione burst in, concern etched on her face. "Are you two alright? Did you encounter that person?"
"Never mind the dragon for now," Harry said, glancing around before continuing. "I have a secret to tell you about last night's attacker..."
"Wait, Harry," Michael interrupted, walking to the door to look outside before closing it.
Realizing his intention, Ryan went to the window to ensure no one was eavesdropping.
"You saw who it was?" Wied asked.
"Yes, I got there a little earlier than you," Harry replied, shivering involuntarily. "It was... Professor Quirrell."
The room fell into a stunned silence.
Harry, anxious and frustrated, rushed on, "You may think I'm lying, but I'm not! Weeks ago, I overheard Snape threatening Quirrell in the forest! It was the day of the Quidditch match, when Gryffindor won! Snape was pressuring Quirrell to collaborate with him to steal the Philosopher's Stone hidden on the fourth floor! And last night, they were the first to arrive in the Forbidden Forest!"
Theo spoke up, "I heard Professor McGonagall was also there early on."
"You weren't there, so you didn't see," Harry explained his reasoning. "Professor McGonagall arrived in her pajamas! She was clearly woken up by the dragon's roar! But Snape and Quirrell... they were dressed properly, likely because they had been wandering in the forest earlier and might have even attacked Norbert and the unicorn! It was only when Hagrid showed up that they had to flee and pretend to have been roused from their sleep, without having time to change their clothes!"
No one spoke for a moment.
Breaking the silence, Neville looked around and said, "Harry, I've noticed you've been particularly friendly with Professor Quirrell lately... I thought you quite liked him..."
"I thought he was standing up to Snape!" Harry said, frustrated. "I wanted to encourage him to be strong! I didn't expect him to turn to Snape so quickly!"
As he took in their complex expressions, he grew irritated and raised his voice. "Are you thinking that because they're professors, because Dumbledore trusts them, they couldn't have done it? But I really—"
"Harry, calm down," Wied interrupted, his calm voice like a bucket of cold water dousing Harry's agitation. Harry looked at him, only to see Wied looking at the others.
"Tell him about it," Wied said. "Harry already knows this much; telling him the truth won't be breaking our promise to Dumbledore."
Harry was stunned.
"Tell me... what?"
(End of Chapter)
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