Harry wandered down the old stone steps, feeling a slight bitter resentment settling within him. To say he was annoyed would be an understatement. In fact, he had been so angry that he would have punched Malfoy in his stupid, smug face if it wouldn't have gotten him into more trouble.

"Never in all my years have I seen such a complete disregard for the school rules," McGonagall had said, disappointment and anger clear in her stern features. "You shall be deducted fifty points."

"Fifty," Ron had exclaimed in horror.

"Each!"

All the while, Malfoy had stood there smirking like the cat that got the cream. He was so proud of the trouble he had gotten the trio into, that he almost missed McGonagall say that all four of them would be serving detentions.

"No, you heard me correct, Mr Malfoy." McGonagall had replied, the barest hint of a smirk on her face. "Since you too were out of bed after hours, you will be serving detention with your fellow classmates." The look on his face had almost made the imminent detention and loss of house points worth it. His first detention would be later that night, after dinner, and he felt slightly apprehensive about it. Apart from that it wasn't going to be with McGonagall, he didn't really know much else about what it would entail.

"Perhaps it'll be with Filch," Fred had teased, him and George sharing a look. "He keeps chains in his office to string wayward students up by their toes." All Harry hoped was that Dumbledore wouldn't allow Filch to use his 'pretties', as he called them.

Finally reaching his destination, Harry heaved a sigh noticing how today the usually happy little hut had a sad air about it. He had found out that Malfoy had written to his farther about Norbert, and the Governors had decided that a dragon was too dangerous to be kept on the premises and so Norbert was to be sent to Romania, to live amongst others of his kind. It was safe to say that Hagrid had not taken the news well, and Harry had decided to pay him a visit to say good bye to Norbert before he was taken. Perhaps he might be able to find out a bit more about the Philosopher's stone whilst he was there as well. Raising his hand, he knocked gently on the door.

The door swung open after a few moments, and Hagrid's looming figure appeared, sniffling and blowing his nose red. "Hello Harry," he muttered mournfully.

"Hiya Hagrid," he replied, feeling slightly awkward stood there on the doorstep.

Shuffling back into the room, he gestured for Harry to follow. "You bes' come in then."

As Harry entered, he noticed that the cage the Ministry had provided for Norbert was open and the dragon was nowhere inside. Worrying that Hagrid had tried to free Norbert before he could be taken, Harry glanced around the hut, noticing for the first time that Hagrid had company, prior to his arrival.

Professor Amora was sat in one of the oversized chairs, Norbert curled up on her lap as she gently scratched his chin. She glanced up, noticing Harry for the first time and raised a silent eyebrow at him.

"Professor," Harry said in surprise, watching as the usually firm teacher cooed over the baby dragon. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"And I you," Amora replied, not taking her eyes off the chirping dragon. "Norbert didn't enjoy being locked in a cage, the poor baby, and I told Hagrid I would stop by to help watch him until the…escorts arrived."

At Hagrid's gesture, Harry sat down on the chair opposite Professor Amora, watching as the Groundskeeper went about filling the kettle to make some fresh tea, slamming various pots and appliances with more force than necessary.

"It ain' right," he grumbled. "Takin' him away from 'is family like that."

"We've been over this, Rubeus," Amora sighed, though Harry noted the look of sympathy on her face. "He'll grow out of this stage and into a very dangerous creature."

"He ain' hurt no one."

"Not yet, no, but that doesn't mean he won't. It's virtually impossible to tame a dragon."

"You could," Hagrid replied, turning round, his eyes so full of hope that Harry had to look away. "You could tame him, he'd listen ter you."

"Rubeus, I have students to worry about. I can't spend my time baby-sitting a dragon, no matter how much I might want to."

Disappointment settling on his face, Hagrid turned back to his task muttering to himself again. "He weren't hurtin' no one. They would never know about Norbert…"

Harry felt guilt settle in his stomach like a rock. "We never told anyone about Norbert," he said.

"Oh Harry, we know it wasn't you," Amora chuckled slightly.

"I would never 'ave thought that fer a moment," Hagrid agreed. "No, I know exactly who it was, and I can say this-"

"Perhaps not in front of a student," Amora said firmly, a slight trace of humour on her face. Her attention was turned back to the dragon as it chirped and growled at her, butting its head against her hand. To Harry's surprise, she began to speak to the dragon, the words unfamiliar to Harry and her voice deep and rasping, stopping only when the young hatchling began chirping at her. It was then he realised that she was having a conversation with Norbert.

"You-you," Harry gasped, looking at her with wide eyes. "You can understand what he's saying."

"But of course," she replied, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. "Surely you would have heard the rumours about me that seem to make their circuit around the school every year?"

He felt a slight flush creep up his face. "I heard rumours that you could talk to animals, but I didn't think they were…"

"True?" Amora supplied. "No, well you wouldn't. Not after I told you I was a squib, at least. Well I wasn't entirely truthful. I am a squib, that much is true, however I possess certain…shall we call them abilities? This meant I could not be educated in a muggle school."

"Understanding animals being one of them?" Harry asked to which she nodded in confirmation. He felt his curiosity get the better of him. "Was your mother really a faery?"

She glanced at him, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know to tell you the truth, I never met her."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Harry replied, watching a she shrugged her shoulders imperviously. "Professor," he began, uncertainly, shuffling in his chair. "Can you…understand snakes?"

"I can," she confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

Again, Harry shuffled in his seat. "It's just. It's just, before I came here, I could…I mean I did-" glancing up at the professor, he felt his courage leave him. "Never mind."

She tilted her head to the side, quietly observing him. For a moment, Harry feared that she would push the matter further, but was relieved when Norbert nipped at the professor's hand, reclaiming her attention once more.

"How are you finding Jacob's journal?" She eventually asked.

"It's very interesting," Harry supplied, "I didn't realise your father fought against Grindelwald." He discovered a great deal more about who Grindelwald was during his time at Hogwarts. A dark wizard who had wanted to enslave the muggle masses. Some considered him to be worse than Voldemort.

Amora nodded, stroking Norbert's head. "Everyone either fought with or against him, there was no choice otherwise." Harry felt that there was probably a lot more to it, but guessed that the professor was not about to elaborate.

"I didn't realise that he was acquainted with Nicholas Flamel, either," – behind him, he heard a teaspoon clatter against the worktop. A muscle in Amora's jaw twitched. – "I found that quite fascinating."

Amora glanced up, looking at Hagrid. Harry could imagine that the gigantic man was gradually turning a deep beetroot colour. "Did you?" Her voice was low and even, each word spoken with the utmost care.

Harry hummed in agreement, fighting the urge to grin. "Yes, I didn't realise. You know who Flamel is, the famous alchemist, inventor of the philosopher's stone, that thing under the trapdoor that Fluffy's guarding."

Amora's eyebrows rose dangerously close to her hairline, as Hagrid spluttered and coughed, finding great interest in the bottom of his teacup. "Fluffy," Amora hissed through gritted teeth, glaring openly at Hagrid. She then turned her attention to Harry. "I thought I warned you to keep away from it?" Norbert slunk off her lap and hid himself within the vast folds of her skirts.

"I have," He replied, and this wasn't entirely a lie. He hadn't been back to the room since they first discovered it, but that didn't mean his curiosity had diminished.

"I suppose you are aware that entrance onto that corridor was strictly prohibited, and that Dumbledore would not be too impressed to discover that his demand had been so blatantly ignored?"

Harry shrugged, looking his professor straight in the eye. "No more than if he found out that one of his professors had given a student a book that told them what was being guarded."

He watched as her eyes narrowed and nostrils flared and for a moment wondered if he had pushed too far, but then a smirk tugged and the corner of her lips and a soft chuckle escaped her. "Well played Potter, however I won't ask you again. Stay away from the stone, please."

"But Snape's-"

"Do you honestly believe that Dumbledore, or even Professor McGonagall or myself, would have allowed Professor Snape to help guard the stone if we thought, even for a moment, that there might be a chance that he would wish to steal it?"

"Dumbledore trusts Professor Snape," Hagrid added, a sense of determination in his voice. "And if Dumbledore trusts 'im then so do I."

Harry watched in despair as Amora nodded in agreement. How could they both be so blind to what was so obviously happening? How could they trust Snape so completely and be so unaware of his true intent? He was unable to press the issue further as there were voices approaching the hut from outside, their presence causing Norbert to hiss with agitation and Hagrid to whimper.

"It's time," Amora announced, arising from her seat and allowing the dragon to clamber up and perch across her shoulders, its needle like tail wrapping itself about the base of her throat. She looked over at Hagrid, who looked as though a fresh wave of tears would seize him at any moment, and smiled softly. "We must get this over with, sooner as opposed to later."

Reluctantly, Hagrid shuffled over to the door, picking up the cage on his way, and exited the hut. Amora was quick to follow and silently gestured that Harry should remain where he was. Deciding that it was probably wise to obeyed, he remained inside the hut however curiosity got the better of him and he snuck over to one of the tarnished windows and saw four men stood waiting outside. He didn't recognise three of them, but there was one whose face reminded him of another and made his jaw clench.

"Hello Lucius," Amora said, pleasantly. "It's nice to see you again."

"Olenna," he replied, his voice containing a cold and snobbish quality to it. "I'm sure I do not have to remind you that a dangerous creature such as that should not be allowed loose without the proper safety precautions, especially in a place so full of children." The cold sneer on his face sent a shiver down Harry's spine. "We wouldn't want an accident to happen, now would we?"

"I can assure you that Norbert is quite harmless," the smile on her face remained frozen. "For now."

"Then perhaps you would like to put that beast in its cage before it is."

Harry could no longer see Amora's face, but he could tell that the smile had rapidly disappeared as the atmosphere grew colder, and even the sky seemed to become darker and stormier. As she spoke, her voice had become hard and cutting. "I have encountered men who could be described only as beast, and yet they still walk free with none willing to put them in a cage."

A nasty look crossed Lucius' face as he glared at the professor. "I must say that this whole situation does not inspire confidence in Dumbledore's ability to run this school, especially if he is allowing a dragon to be kept as a pet on the premises."

"Now you leave Dumbledore outta this," Hagrid growled menacingly, taking a defensive step forward. "He 'ad nothin' ter do with this, he didn' even know about Norbert."

"So he is unaware of what goes on in his own school? I must say that this is most concerning indeed."

"Give it a rest Lucius," Amora snarled. "We're handing over Norbert, doing what you want, so why don't you go back to being the Minister's lap dog, or whatever it is you do best."

Lucius took several steps forward, coming to stand before her. His attempts at intimidating her failed however, especially as she continued to glare at him, dragon perched on her shoulders hissing. "You are not untouchable, Olenna. I can have you and your precious headmaster dismissed within an instant. I seem to recall that your position here has not always been as stable as you like to claim," he turned his back on her and addressed the men with him, barking as though he were giving orders to a slave. "Get that thing in the cage and out of here." And with that he stormed off, leaving them to scurry about trying to entice the dragon from its perch into the cage. Eventually, Amora sighed and rolling her eyes she uttered something to Norbert and eventually got the reluctant dragon into the cage.

It clawed desperately at the bars, crying to anyone that would listen. Hagrid sobbed loudly as he said his final goodbyes to the hatchling, following the cage for a while as the wizards hoisted it up and between the three of them carried it towards the front gates of the school. Amora kept her back to the scene, her eyes were closed and her fists clenched. Slowly, Harry emerged from the hut and cautiously approached her. She didn't open her eyes.

"You have your detention this evening," her voice wobbled. "Don't be late." And she turned and headed back towards the castle, leaving Harry alone with the image of the tears that had already begun to stain her cheeks.