Unfortunately, it was clear that while she thought this way, the others simply couldn't ignore what was happening—especially to people they knew.
Harry couldn't restrain his curiosity or his unease; he stood on tiptoe and tapped Hagrid's arm.
Hagrid jumped, hastily hiding the book behind his back. When he looked down and saw Harry, he heaved a huge sigh of relief.
'It's you, Harry—you gave me a fright…'
Harry swallowed; the sense of unease grew. He pointed at the book Hagrid had tucked behind his back.
'Hagrid… why are you reading about Dragons?'
'I'm not—well, I mean… how d'you know it's about Dragons? Have you heard something?' Hagrid asked, flustered.
Harry was bewildered. 'No, I haven't heard anything. I knew it was about Dragons because I asked Lynn—she knows the Library inside out.'
Lynn, the famous study-maniac of Hogwarts, the tireless monster of a student, the Professors' pet—Hagrid had heard the stories, and they'd even met once before.
'Miss Lynn,' Hagrid nodded. 'Brilliant Ravenclaw. If it's her, no wonder she knew what I was reading.'
'So, why are you reading about them?' Harry persisted.
Hagrid glanced around nervously, then bent down and whispered, 'Come to my hut tomorrow afternoon and I'll tell you. It's a real surprise. Bring Miss Lynn if you like—I think she'll be interested.'
With that he straightened up, strode out of the Library, book in hand; to a studious Ravenclaw, seeing a Dragon egg would surely be irresistible.
Harry watched him leave and sighed, sensing things were heading exactly where he'd feared.
Back at the table Hermione turned to him. 'Well? What did Hagrid say?'
Harry shrugged. 'He wants us at his hut tomorrow afternoon. He'll explain then—and he says Lynn might like to come too.'
He glanced at Lynn. Hearing her full name snapped her out of her study trance; she stared blankly at Harry, then looked at Hermione.
Tomorrow afternoon was study time; if it were only Harry asking, she'd refuse—but Hermione… 'Come with us!' Hermione pleaded, eyes shining. She loved doing anything non-academic with Lynn.
Sure enough, the moment Hermione spoke, a sudden impulse to agree popped into Lynn's mind. She nodded. 'All right. I'll go with you tomorrow afternoon.'
'Great!' Hermione beamed, determined that if she dragged Lynn out often enough, one day she'd see her smile and learn to feel.
Having agreed, Lynn calmly returned to her book without wasting a second.
Hermione blinked, signalled Harry and Ron to resume revising, and herself began sorting key points for every subject.
Harry and Ron exchanged a silent, weary sigh and buckled down again.
By the time curfew neared, Lynn finally surfaced from her work; Harry and Ron had been dozing for ages, and even Hermione was yawning.
They were all exhausted from the marathon study session.
Sensing Lynn packing up, Hermione shook herself awake.
'Lynn, are we leaving?' she whispered.
'Yes.' Lynn's tone was flat. 'It's almost curfew.'
'Okay.' Hermione closed her book and gently shook Harry and Ron. 'Wake up. We'll finish sleeping back in the Dormitory.'
'Mmm—what? Right…' The boys rubbed their eyes, gathered their things sleepily, and followed the girls out of the Library.
They climbed the stairs together. At the turning point Hermione waved first. 'See you tomorrow. Good night.'
Lynn copied the gesture without expression. 'Good night. See you tomorrow.'
She turned and headed straight for Ravenclaw Tower without looking back.
Hermione smiled after her, then grabbed the two half-awake boys. 'Next time we'll get you to bed earlier. Come on.' She hauled them toward Gryffindor Tower.
Back in the Dormitory, Maranhao and Marietta Edgecombe were already in bed reading. After a flat greeting, Lynn took her things to the washroom.
Three minutes later she reappeared, towelling her hair.
A few rubs and she pulled a book from her bag, sat at the desk, and read until midnight before finally lying down.
Eyes closed, she slept six hours and woke again.
Morning classes were as easy as ever, but she still listened intently and took meticulous notes.
Bolting her lunch, she remembered the afternoon plan and waited by the Great Hall entrance, reading.
After a while the other three emerged. Hermione spotted her at once and hurried over.
'Lynn, have you waited long?'
'Not very—sixteen minutes,' Lynn replied without change of expression.
Hermione scratched her cheek sheepishly. 'Sorry to keep you.'
'Not very long; no need to apologise. Let's go,' Lynn answered mechanically.
'Right.' Hermione nodded. Harry led the way toward Hagrid's hut.
Lynn walked behind Hermione, head down, still reading as they walked.
At the hut door Harry raised his hand and knocked twice.
Hagrid went to the door, cracked it open cautiously, and only stepped aside when he saw it was Harry and the others.
"Quick, inside!"
The four of them slipped into Hagrid's hut one after another.
Hagrid peered left and right outside, then shut the door with a brisk shove.
"Hagrid, what's wrong? Why so jumpy?" Harry asked, watching him return from the door.
Hermione stared at the fireplace—more precisely, at the enormous egg resting in the cauldron on the grate—and opened her mouth with difficulty.
"I think... it's because of this?"
"Merlin's wand!" Ron followed her gaze and couldn't help exclaiming, eyes wide with disbelief and excitement.
"That's a Dragon egg, isn't it?"
Hagrid beamed. "Right! Won it in a bet at the Hog's Head!"
Lynn gazed calmly at the egg. "Norwegian Ridgeback."
The moment she saw it her mind automatically compared it to the illustrations in her books and reached a verdict.
"Exactly!" Hagrid nodded vigorously, stepping back to the egg and gazing at it in rapture. "Beautiful, isn't it? I figured you Ravenclaws like books, so you'd want to see one up close—rare chance."
Lynn spoke in a level voice. "Rare indeed, but privately raising a Dragon breaches Wizard law and Hogwarts rules."
A flush of embarrassment crept across Hagrid's face; he didn't know where to put his hands.
"I... I'll take good care of it, and look—it's only an egg. If I don't look after it, it could die."
Hermione lifted a hand to cover her face. "Hagrid... if you look after it, you—and the students—are the ones in danger.
"Dragons, even hatchlings, are powerful: fire, venomous fangs. Their lethality can't be ignored. And, not to mention, you live in a wooden house?"
The excitement fading, Harry and Ron sobered up and realised how risky this was, urging Hagrid to send the Dragon elsewhere.
Lynn kept her eyes fixed on the egg while her brain raced through calculations.
"By the time it's two months old your hut won't hold it—assuming nothing goes wrong, like it setting the place on fire."
Hagrid heaved a heavy sigh. "All right... I'll send it away, but... it's already started hatching. See? Could we wait till it hatches before sending it off?"
Hermione, Harry and Ron exchanged glances—well, who wouldn't want to see a Dragon break its shell?
"All right, Hagrid," Ron said. "When it hatches I'll contact my brother Charlie—he works with Dragons in Romania. He'll come and take it somewhere safe. I promise it'll be well looked after. Deal?"
Hagrid sniffed loudly and nodded. "Good. I'll call you when it starts to crack."
"Thank you." The four thanked him politely and left the hut.
"Merlin, Hagrid's actually raising a Dragon." Outside, Harry shut his eyes, still unable to believe what he'd seen.
"He really loves them, doesn't he..." Ron sighed.
Hermione pressed her lips together. "At least once it hatches we can send it away. Nothing should go wrong—and seeing a Dragon hatch must be incredibly rare, right?"
"Definitely rare," Ron agreed. "Even professional Dragon-handlers won't go near a nesting female, let alone watch a hatchling break out—that's suicide."
"Let's hope nothing goes wrong," Harry added, nodding.
Lynn walked silently behind the trio, listening as two opposing thoughts collided in her mind again.
Raising a Dragon violates Wizard law and school rules; it's illegal and should be reported.
The matter involves Hermione and Harry; you mustn't report it.
The two ideas crashed furiously inside her skull, making her head throb.
Showing nothing on her face, Lynn bade Hermione and the others goodbye in a calm voice and walked alone toward Ravenclaw Tower.
The clash raged on until the decision not to report won out; she slowed to a halt.
Not reporting meant helping to conceal a crime; that itself broke the rules, and breaking rules required punishment.
She unconsciously pressed her right hand to her left arm; the image of Hermione examining that arm flashed through her mind.
She lowered her hand, bent slightly, and dug the nails of her right hand into her left thigh with all her strength. Pain flooded her brain, yet her expression stayed blank.
After repeating the self-punishment ten times she finally let go; her left leg trembled and cold sweat dotted her forehead.
She stood still for a moment, then straightened expressionlessly and continued toward Ravenclaw Tower, her gait now subtly different.
Back in her Dormitory she sat at her desk, opened a Library book and settled into study mode.
She read until six o'clock, then closed the book, stood up and headed to the Great Hall for dinner.
She walked with her eyes still on the pages; Hogwarts' stairs obligingly carried her where she needed to go.
But as she stepped down her left thigh muscle spasmed; she lost balance and pitched forward.
Clang—a suit of armour shot out a gauntlet and caught her.
Lynn got up expressionlessly, tested her left leg, and once sure it would hold she nodded politely at the suit.
"Thank you."
The armour shook its helmet as if to say it was nothing.
She looked away and continued reading while walking toward the Great Hall. As to why the armour had helped—
She felt neither curiosity nor puzzlement; her mind simply produced a cold, logical explanation.
Hogwarts is a magical school; everything here possesses magic, including the armour—so of course it could catch her.
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