"Hugo? Hugo…? You in there, mate?"

"Dad! What – what're you doing up?!"

"Just thought I'd try a bit of moonlight carpentry. More importantly, what are you doing up? And in the shed, no less?"

"N-nothing!"

"Oh yeah? You inherited your mother's guilty expression, d'you know that?"

"Dad…"

"That doesn't work for Rosie and it's not going to work for you. Nice try though. What's going on?"

"I – I can't tell you. It's a secret!"

"We don't keep secrets, remember? Especially not ones that involve sneaking outside at three in the morning."

"You'll kill me!"

"What sort of villain do you think I am? Kill you? Not a chance! Disinherit you, maybe… Swap you for Lily, maybe… But kill you? Come on now, I'm not as bad as all that!"

"I know. Sorry."

"It's your mother you really have to worry about."

"What?! Is she coming out too?"

"Nah. She's fast asleep by now, I reckon."

"Dad, you scared the life out of me!"

"Serves you right for scaring the life out of us with all that racket – was that you growling earlier?"

"Er… If I tell you –"

"– when you tell me –"

"Right. Uh… when I tell you, will you try to understand? Please, dad? Please? It's really important –"

"I always listen, don't I?"

"Yeah, but –"

"How about you explain inside the shed, eh? Bloody freezing out here!"

"I can't! You'll see, and then –"

"See what, Hugo?"

"Dad, I swear I didn't know this would happen! But I couldn't just leave it there!"

"Leave what, Hugo?"

"Uh… I, uh…"

"Is it a dragon?"

"What?! No!"

"Thank Merlin for that! Wait – is it a dragon egg?"

"Dad! No, of course not. Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that!"

"What then? It's not a three-headed dog, is it?"

"No, Crookshanks would probably claw me in my sleep if I brought one of those home!"

"Good… Is it – is it a house elf?"

"A house elf?!"

"Well, you never know. Your mum was all for smuggling them out of Hogwarts, once upon a time. Stands to reason you might have inherited that too."

"No way, mum would have my head if I freed one only to bring it home! She says Rose and me are all the house elves she needs."

"Ha! Says that, does she? Haven't heard that one before!"

"She says it all the time, practically every morning."

"Really? Around the time the Prophet arrives?"

"Yeah…"

"That'd explain it then."

"Explain what?"

"I, er… I might get a bit – distracted – when I'm reading the Sports section. Don't tell your mum that, though!"

"I thought we don't keep secrets, dad?"

"Enough cheek, you! Hurry up and open the door, eh? I promise I'll hear you out, whatever it is."

"Okay… But let me go in first."

"Blimey, it's dark in here! Those flames don't do much. I won't get eaten if I light my wand, will I?"

"No. At least, I don't think so…"

"That's not very reassuring, Hugo. Where is… whatever it is?"

"Over here. Walk slowly, okay? No sudden movements."

"Oh Godric – you've never adopted one of Hagrid's hippogriffs?!"

"No! Dad, please keep your voice down… Here. Shh, he's asleep…"

"Is that a –? Circe, it is! Hugo? Hugo, get behind me! Bloody hell, bloody hell! Do you know what that IS?!"

"Shh, dad! Please! You're going to frighten him."

"Him? You're worried I'm going to frighten him? No, don't go any closer, stay where you are!"

"Dad –!"

"Hugo, that's a griffin. It could eat us both for breakfast! I hardly think it'll find me frightening!"

"He won't hurt you! He's only a baby. Please dad, you said you'd let me explain."

"Fine, you can explain over here – come on, further… Now, explain to me how and why there is a griffin – a griffin! – in my shed!"

"He's not dangerous, I promise! He's barely a year old, dad. I found him in the Forbidden Forest last year, a few weeks after Hallowe'en. He probably had a mum and dad, but his left leg was hurt, so I think they abandoned him. I couldn't just leave him there for the spiders to eat!"

"Did you ever stop to think that you might've ended up being a meal for the spiders? How do you think we'd feel if that happened? Hugo, I swear, you have less self-preservation than your Uncle Harry ever did!"

"Sorry… But you would've taken care of him too, dad. It was the right thing to do."

"Oh, the right thing to do, was it? What about telling your parents that they've got a new houseguest, eh? Wouldn't that be the right thing to do, too?"

"Well… He's not actually in the house…"

"You are definitely your mother's son. I don't fancy breaking this news to her in the morning. You saw what happened with those bloody lizards!"

"She likes them now… sort of."

"She tolerates them now. How in Merlin's name did you heal its leg, anyway?"

"I, erm… I borrowed some of Hagrid's hippogriff tonic. He didn't miss it though and I'm going to pay him back! I saved up all my summer pocket money!"

"And the tonic worked?"

"Well, the cut was infected, so I had to remove the thorn and clean it out first. But then –"

"Hang on, how did you even get close enough to see what the problem was, Hugo? Wild griffins are supposed to be really hostile!"

"Oh, that was easy! I just transformed. He trusted my Animagus form straight away. But I think he knew that I only wanted to help, too."

"You think so? Bloody hell… This is my own fault. I should never have left you alone with Charlie."

"Charlie didn't know for ages!"

"You mean he knows now?"

"Um… would that be bad?"

"Oh, your mother is going to have kneazles over this…"

"Dad? Do you think –? Do you think it'd make a difference if I told her that Finn likes it here? That he wants to stay?"

"Finn?"

"That's his name."

"The griffin's name is Finn?"

"Yeah! He likes the sound of the waves. He wants to stay with me when I go to school and everything, but he'll protect the house when he's here. So… that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Hugo… I have no idea whether she'll think that's a good thing or not, but I do think we'd better get to bed before she comes looking for us."

"Okay, can I just give Finn another blanket though?"

"Do griffins really need blankets?"

"Please dad?"

"Go on then… Godric, mind the teeth!"

"He's just yawning, don't worry."

"Just yawning… Bloody hell."

"Oops, he's shredded all the bedding with his claws again. He does it in his sleep, I think. Dad, can you pass me that pile of newspaper please?"

"Claws things in his sleep, eh? Wonderful. I thought the newspaper collection was to keep paint from getting everywhere?"

"Oh. Uh, not recently…"

"Will I crumple it up, or leave it flat?"

"Hang on, can I see that one?"

"Which one?"

"The paper with the big photo. I don't remember reading it..."

"You mightn't have. I didn't think you'd want to. It's in the Quidditch section, but it's just an article about a social event all the League teams went to. A ball or a gala, something like that."

"But that's Jeff Wood!"

"What? Oh right, he was your instructor last year, eh?"

"Yeah. He helped me with my Animagus training too and he… but who's that girl?"

"Ciara Lynch, the caption says. Hey, I wonder if she's related to that Irish player? What's his name?"

"Aidan Lynch. Wood… he has his arm around her."

"That's not so shocking, is it? I know you mightn't have started dating yet, but –"

"Is he dating her?"

"I have no idea, Hugo! It's half three in the morning and I'm half asleep. Can we go inside now?"

"Yeah, sorry. Can I – Can I have the paper?"

"Here. Come on..."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just putting up wards to warn - I mean, let me know if there's any... movement. Don't worry, that creature of yours will be fine until morning."

"Finn, Dad. His name is Finn."

"Finn will be fine, then."

"Oh no!"

"What?! What is it? Did it bite you?"

"No, Mum's bedroom light just went on! Run!"