Chapter 90 - Detention
They all looked ashamed.
Then I turned toward Neville.
"Neville."
"Y-Yes?"
"I never thought you would be brave enough to help them smuggle a dragon."
Neville's face went pale. He clearly thought he was about to be scolded.
Instead, I walked over and patted his shoulder.
"You have a strong heart."
Neville blinked in disbelief, "What?"
"You care about your friends. You were willing to help Hagrid."
His eyes widened, "You're not angry?"
"No, I'm not angry with you."
Relief flooded his face.
"Just be more careful next time."
Neville nodded rapidly.
"I will."
"Good."
Then I looked at Hermione.
"Where is the pickup point?"
"The Astronomy Tower, Charlie's friends will meet us there."
"Very well."
I turned toward the dragon.
"First we get Norbert into the crate."
Hagrid sniffed loudly.
The dragon happily nudged my hand again. I scratched under her jaw and to everyone's amazement, she closed her eyes and leaned into it.
"I still don't understand how she likes yeh this much," Hagrid muttered.
I shrugged and carefully guided Norbert toward the crate. She followed without much resistance. Once she was inside, I raised my wand. A gentle sleeping spell settled over her.
Within seconds she was asleep and I closed the crate.
Behind me, Hagrid had started quietly crying again. He turned away and faced the wall, sobbing.
I cast several spells on the crate like a Feather-Light Charm, Silencing Charm, Disillusionment Charm.
Then we slid the crate beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Harry, Hermione, and Neville took hold of it. I added a light levitation charm to reduce the weight they carried.
Finally, we moved toward the door.
Before leaving, I glanced back.
Hagrid was still standing there, wiping his eyes.
"Goodbye, Hagrid."
He gave a small wave.
His voice was barely above a whisper, "Bye".
I gently closed the door behind us and together we stepped into the darkness of the Hogwarts grounds. We all carefully carried the crate containing Norbert towards the Astronomy Tower.
The journey was surprisingly smooth. Under the Invisibility Cloak, with the silencing and disillusionment charms helping us, we managed to cross the grounds without attracting attention.
Just as we were nearing the tower, I felt something wrong. It was the feeling of being watched. I slightly turned my head and looked behind us.
There, standing at a distance, was Draco Malfoy. His eyes were fixed on us. Draco's face was lit up with the thought that he would finally get Harry punished. He immediately turned around and ran back toward the castle, probably to find the nearest professor and report us.
I did not stop him as there was no point doing that.
Rather, the situation with the dragon came first. A school punishment was way better than a Ministry level enquiry.
So, I said nothing to the trio and continued climbing the stairs. A few minutes later, we reached the top of the Astronomy Tower.
A few moments later, several broomsticks appeared from the darkness. The riders landed smoothly.
"Harry Potter?" one of them asked.
Harry nodded.
"Are you Charlie's friends?"
The man grinned, "That's right."
We brought the crate forward. The wizards opened it slightly and looked inside. Their eyes widened at what they saw and they all exclaimed in surprise.
"Blimey!"
"She's grown."
"Has someone been feeding her too much?"
I coughed, "Hagrid."
The group immediately nodded in understanding, "That explains everything."
They looked genuinely happy. One of them gently closed the crate.
"Don't worry. We'll get her safely to Romania."
I patted the crate once.
"Goodbye, Norbert."
The sleeping dragon did not react.
A moment later, the crate was secured to the broomsticks. The group waved us goodbye, then kicked off from the tower and disappeared into the night sky. For a few moments we simply watched them go.
Then Hermione sighed in relief, "It's done."
"Finally," Harry said, also relaxing, while Neville looked like he had spent all his courage.
We turned and started heading back down, back to our dormitories.
Unfortunately, our night did not end, as the moment we entered the castle, Professor McGonagall was there waiting for us. Beside her was Draco Malfoy with a smug look on his face, like he was already celebrating and looking forward at our punishment.
Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed, as she berated us.
"Out after curfew and carrying out activities that I strongly suspect should not have been taking place."
Still nobody replied or even made any excuses. I also simply nodded, accepting the scolding. There was no point arguing as we were caught red-handed.
Our punishment was announced immediately. We got a detention for tonight. It will be with Hagrid for a patrol in the Forbidden Forest.
The children were scared and Neville looked like he might faint.
Draco's wide smile vanished a moment later as Professor McGonagall turned toward him.
"And you too, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco blinked in shock.
"What? But Professor-"
"No excuses, Mr. Malfoy. You were also out after curfew."
Draco's face turned pale and he looked horrified.
For the first time, I felt a little sympathy for him. Only a little.
A short while later, Filch escorted us across the grounds.
He seemed delighted, absolutely delighted. It was likely his only source of motivation to work in Hogwarts, giving punishment to the children. The entire walk was spent describing horrible punishments from the old days and even horror stories of the forest.
His every sentence made Neville look worse and even Draco was looking very nervous. By the time we reached Hagrid's hut, both of them looked ready to run away.
Hagrid was waiting for us. When he saw our group, guilt flashed across his face. He clearly understood why we were here.
Still, neither of us mentioned the dragon. Some secrets were better left unsaid.
Soon we entered the Forbidden Forest. The group consisted of Hagrid with his pet Fang, myself, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Draco.
The forest was dark as the trees blocked most of the moonlight.
The shadows seemed alive while every sound seemed louder.
Neville stayed very close to Hagrid. Draco also stayed very close to him. The proud heir of the Malfoy family was turning to be just as frightened as Neville was.
Harry and Hermione were relatively calmer, perhaps because I was there.
After walking deeper into the forest, Hagrid stopped. There was a silver puddle on the ground. Even in the darkness it seemed to glow faintly.
He knelt beside the puddle and dipped a finger into it. He examined it carefully, feeling its texture and smell. Then his face became serious as he came to a conclusion.
"Unicorn blood."
Hagrid explained what had been happening over the last few days. Something had been attacking unicorns throughout the forest and nobody knew what it was.. Everyone fell silent.
The significance of the words were disturbing. Unicorn were said to be pure and innocent animals. A dead unicorn was bad enough but someone or something hunting unicorns was worse.
Hagrid divided the group. He took Hermione and Neville with him, while Harry and Draco were grouped with me. Draco, as if grasping at the last straw, asked for the dog. But when Hagrid reminded that Fang was even more scared, it deflated Draco's last confidence.
Before we continued walking, I noticed something strange.
My wand was trembling. At first I thought I was imagining it.
But I felt it again.
The wand seemed to be hinting me and pulling in a certain direction.
I frowned as this had never happened before.
Curiously, I followed the feeling I got and lowered the tip of my wand toward the unicorn blood. The moment it touched the blood, the reaction became stronger and clearer.
The wood vibrated softly in my hand and a clear, strange feeling entered my mind. It was a feeling of urgency. The wand did not use words but it conveyed a feeling of urgency.
I stared at the wand. This was completely new.
Wands chose their owners and shared connections with them. But I had never heard of a wand actively guiding its owner somewhere. Let alone like this or with such insistence.
I looked up. The feeling pointed deeper into the forest.
Toward the darkness and probably toward whatever had spilled the unicorn's blood.
I tightened my grip. Questions about this strange incident could wait for later.
I turned toward Harry and Draco, "Stay close and have your wands ready."
Harry immediately noticed my serious tone, "What happened?"
"I'll explain later. Draco, Harry, take out your wands and stay ready for whatever is ahead."
They both nodded and readied their wands, even Draco sensing the seriousness of the moment.
Then I started moving fast with the wand continued pulling me forward.
Its urgency was growing stronger with every step. Whatever it wanted me to find was close and time seemed to be of the essence. There was no time to waste.
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End of Chapter 90 - Detention
'POLL TIME
What should be Arthur's Patronus?
1. Deer (from the original meaning of Dursley surname/word)
2. Lion (from the animals related to Evans surname)
3. Dragon (from the origin of Evans surname which is Welsh and Romania)
4. Human (from the religious meaning of the word Evans)
5. Any other
Comment your choice.'