"Harry, hold on a moment, let me catch my breath." Hermione felt a bit dizzy; Harry had just dropped too much information on her all at once.
Once she'd composed herself, Hermione immediately pulled Harry towards the library. She was on a mission to find The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
"Madam Pince, are you saying there's no copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard here?"
"Of course not. Why would the library house such common fairy tales?"
Hermione then dragged Harry towards the Owlery. Harry took the Flourish and Blotts order letter Hermione handed him and tied it to Hedwig's leg.
"Harry, I'm afraid we'll have to trouble Hedwig with this trip," Hermione said apologetically.
Later that night, in the Gryffindor Tower, Harry lay in bed, replaying Dumbledore's words.
"Harry, Quirrell has escaped, but I suspect he's still nearby, for Tom would never abandon the Philosopher's Stone. And now that he's seen your childhood memories, I fear Tom might go to your aunt's house... But don't worry, the Ministry of Magic has already sent people to protect them."
I'm not worried about them at all, Harry thought. Dumbledore really does meddle too much. Harry rolled over and gradually drifted off to sleep.
Time moved on to November, and the weather turned bitterly cold. The Quidditch season had begun, and as Wood put it, the first match had to be nothing short of spectacular. Thus, Harry was utterly absorbed in training. Hermione, meanwhile, had taken over Hagrid's paper defence completely, even taking on the task of walking Humphrey.
"Hagrid, are you sure you want to come watch my match?"
"Of course, Harry! Thanks to Hermione's help, the defence is almost ready. Besides, it's your first match, and I wouldn't miss cheering you on for anything!"
"Good luck, Harry!" Hermione's voice was a bit muffled by her thick red scarf. Despite the freezing weather, she held a banner emblazoned with a roaring lion.
Wood was already calling Harry over. In the changing room, everyone donned their vibrant scarlet Quidditch robes. Wood simply said, "We can do this," before leading them out onto the pitch.
Wood and the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, glared at each other, looking as if they wanted to tear each other limb from limb. Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and Harry, on his Firebolt 2000, shot into the air.
Three minutes later, Gryffindor erupted. Harry had caught the Golden Snitch, freezing the score at 160 to 30.
Walking along the path, Hermione told Harry that when he caught the Snitch, the Slytherin stands had fallen silent, Snape's face had turned an absolutely dreadful colour, and Malfoy had screamed that it was impossible.
November 20th. The defence for the paper was scheduled for tomorrow morning. Harry and Hermione came to help Hagrid with the final preparations.
"What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I've gone and lost a photo of Norbert when she was a week old!" Hagrid frantically rummaged through his hut. He had intended to bring that photo to the defence to show.
"The photo shouldn't be here, Harry already used an Accio charm to search for it. Even without that photo, as long as you can explain everything clearly, it'll be fine."
"Hermione's right. What you need to do now is calm down and review the content again."
Convinced by their words, Hagrid finally gave up searching for the photo and began reviewing his material.
"Harry, could you help me grab Dragon-breeding for Pleasure and Profit? I think Hagrid might have remembered something wrong here. Harry? Harry?" Hermione called Harry's name a few times with no response. She turned to find Harry had already dashed outside.
A moment later, Harry returned, with Malfoy floating suspended in the air beside him. In Malfoy's hand was Hagrid's missing photo.
"Put me down, Potter!"
With a "bang," Harry slammed the door shut, and Malfoy hit the ground with a thump. Hagrid and Hermione immediately rushed over, looking concerned.
"You rotten Potter—bloody hell, why is there a snake here?!" Humphrey, who had grown to two metres long, had been warming himself by the fireplace. Seeing Malfoy land on his face, he lazily flicked his tongue.
"Malfoy, you'd best explain yourself, or I'll let Humphrey give you a little bite." Harry threatened, gesturing for Humphrey to slither closer to scare Malfoy.
"Get it away! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything—"
Malfoy explained that he had noticed Hermione frequently running to Hagrid's hut. He had initially thought Hermione was going on dates with Harry (at which point Hermione punched Malfoy hard).
"Ow!" Malfoy yelped, then continued under Harry's threatening gaze. He'd later noticed that Hermione still ran to the hut even when Harry was at Quidditch practice, which made him suspicious. But he was afraid of being petrified by Harry, so he hadn't dared to follow Hermione directly.
One time, while doing homework in the library, he saw Hagrid returning books. After Hagrid left, Malfoy borrowed the books himself and discovered photos of a Norwegian Ridgeback within them. That's how he found out Hagrid was secretly keeping a dragon at Hogwarts.
Hagrid, hearing this, sheepishly rubbed his nose. Hermione quietly comforted him. "It's alright, Hagrid. Even without that photo, Malfoy would have found out sooner or later."
"I told you everything! Get this snake away from me!" Malfoy shrieked. After taking a few shaky breaths, Malfoy finally noticed that the snake actually had three heads.
"Potter, are you mad?!"
Harry couldn't be bothered with his dramatics. He picked up Humphrey, then prepared to cast Obliviate on Malfoy. Seeing Potter raise his wand towards him, Malfoy quickly blurted out, "I haven't told anyone about the dragon! On the contrary, I've come to help you!"
"Why should we believe you?"
"Because of my name! I love dragons, but my father won't let me keep one at home."
"Heh, I believe that," Harry said, raising his wand again.
"Wait, Harry, let's hear what he has to say." Hermione stopped Harry's action, threatening Malfoy that he'd better say something useful, or Harry would experiment with the Memory Charm on him.
"My father knows some people in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and they've taken a lot of Galleons from him. You definitely want the dragon to stay at Hogwarts, and I can help you, as long as I can come and see the dragon." Malfoy blurted out all of his father's secrets in one breath.
"Dumbledore can do that too," Hagrid scoffed.
"Dumbledore? Hahahaha! Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister for Magic, doesn't like him. If you go through official channels, they'll stall you for at least a year!"
"You're lying—"
"Hermione, Malfoy is probably telling the truth." Harry recalled the conversation he'd overheard on the Knight Bus (Chapter Six); Dumbledore indeed seemed to lack overt influence.
Leaving Hagrid to keep an eye on Malfoy, Harry called Hermione outside and told her what he knew about the political factions in the magical world. After discussing it, they decided to temporarily trust Malfoy.
Returning to the hut, Harry informed Hagrid of their decision. Hagrid was initially hesitant, but Hermione explained it was all for Norbert, and he finally agreed.
"Malfoy, write a letter to your father now, and then we'll let you go," Hermione said, handing him a piece of parchment.
Malfoy promptly wrote the letter and affixed his personal seal. Hermione inspected it, found no issues, and nodded to Harry.
"Listen closely, Malfoy. If you actually help us, we can let you come see Norbert, but don't try any funny business."
With that, Harry ushered Malfoy out. They still had to help Hagrid prepare for his defence.