Eggs, Schedules, and Trouble
"Is it really necessary to have such an extensive schedule?" Percy complained while lying sprawled across the dining table, the only moment of the day when he could rest without studying because of Hermione's schedules. One he enjoyed as slowly as possible, knowing he would soon have to go back to it.
"Don't complain when someone is helping you, Percy," Harry said while having breakfast beside him, completely calm. Even so, Percy noticed that Harry also seemed to be eating far too slowly, so he stared at him, eyes half closed. Of course, as brothers, he more or less knew what Harry was thinking.
Ron and Hermione were eating alongside them, while Neville was sitting in a corner talking with Grover about the cards the latter had given Percy earlier. Neville seemed quite interested, and Grover was teaching him how to play.
Harry, seeing the situation and wanting to divert attention a bit, changed the subject.
"So, how is that mission you imposed on yourself with Grover going?" he asked.
Percy let out a tired sigh before casting a quick glance at Grover, who was playing with Neville as if he were just another ordinary Hogwarts student.
"Better not ask," he replied, not wanting to talk too much, but making it clear that he had made absolutely no progress.
At that very moment, Hedwig suddenly appeared on the dining table, swooping down a little too close to Percy's head and nearly hitting him with the letter she carried in her talons, before calmly settling on Harry's shoulder.
"I'm sure she always does it on purpose," Percy said, looking at Hedwig with mild reproach. The owl returned his gaze with that silent disdain that only Percy seemed to feel coming from her. And maybe he was right.
Meanwhile, Harry ignored the usual squabbles between his owl and his brother and opened the letter. It was from Hagrid, and it only said:
"It's about to hatch."
That made Harry's eyes widen with genuine interest. After all, who wouldn't want to see the birth of a dragon? In a low voice, he shared the contents with the others, managing to spark everyone's interest… except Hermione.
Hermione clearly did not want to hear absolutely anything about a dragon.
"Are you seriously saying you don't want to see it? When will you ever have another chance like this?" Harry said, looking at her lightly.
If those words had come from Ron, or even Percy, Hermione would not have hesitated to choose classes and stay as far away from trouble as possible. But it was Harry speaking, the one who always tried to keep his brother out of trouble and who, in her eyes, was the most reliable among all their friends.
Poor thing. If only she knew that Percy and Harry shared an almost identical talent for getting into trouble. The difference was that Percy was impulsive, while Harry, even though he thought things through a bit more, ended up getting into trouble anyway.
"But… we'll get into trouble," Hermione said. Even so, it was already obvious that she would probably go with them, since she was starting to doubt herself.
Suddenly, Harry felt a gaze boring into the back of his neck, so he turned slightly. There was Malfoy, watching them closely from not too far away, as if trying to listen to what they were talking about. That made Harry frown.
For a moment, Harry mentally reviewed everything they had said out loud, wondering how much Malfoy had actually heard.
When Malfoy met Harry's eyes, he played dumb and kept walking calmly, wearing that familiar smile of arrogance and self-satisfaction.
"I thought they had managed to distract Malfoy by making him clean the castle," Ron commented, noticing the same thing, clearly annoyed as he wondered whether Malfoy had heard anything.
"Yeah, but it seems his instinct to bother us all the time is stronger than his desire to become the heir of Slytherin," Harry replied with a touch of sarcasm.
"I think he likes you," Percy said in a teasing tone, directed at his brother.
Ron's and Harry's faces immediately twisted in disgust, before Percy received a smack on the head from Harry.
"Stop saying disgusting things and let's go," Harry said, annoyed just by thinking about it.
After their Herbology class, where they had to prune some weeds from a plant called dittany, disaster struck. Percy, completely ignoring Professor Sprout and her warning not to get close to the plants known as biting Chinese cabbages, approached out of sheer curiosity. The result was that all the students ended up running for their lives out of the greenhouse.
"Ow… those things bite hard," Percy said, rubbing his shoulder. He had rolled up his sleeve, and several bite marks were clearly visible.
Hermione and Harry looked at him quite angrily, since they had also ended up getting bitten because of him. Luckily, the Chinese cabbages were still young, so their teeth were not hard enough to break the skin, even if the pain was still considerable.
Ron, on the other hand, was holding back laughter. He had avoided being bitten altogether, since the moment everything went out of control he had climbed onto the tables along with other students, using the dittany pots as protection.
"I hope Neville gets mad at you. Because of you, he was attacked by at least six of those things and had to go to the infirmary to get some cream for the pain," Hermione said, looking at him seriously.
Percy put on a somewhat guilty expression, barely managing to say,
"It's fine. Nev doesn't get mad about those things," he said, though he did not sound very convincing.
"Maybe he should," Hermione replied, shooting him one last sharp look.
Percy lowered his gaze for a moment, pressing his lips together.
"That wasn't the idea," he finally said, scratching the back of his neck. "Seriously."
"Hmph… as long as you know," Hermione answered.
The four of them, after talking a bit more, finally reached Hagrid's hut. The moment he opened the door, he welcomed them, excited and radiant.
"It's almost out!" he said, quickly letting them inside.
Inside, on the table, the egg was already covered in cracks all over its shell, while it seemed to move slightly. Soft, muffled growls could be heard from within.
They all gathered around the table and sat down, unable to take their eyes off the egg for even a second.
The little one inside did not make them wait. The shell suddenly broke apart, finally setting it free.
Harry stared at it and felt that it was not exactly pretty. It looked more like a wrinkled black umbrella. Its pointed wings were enormous compared to its skinny body. It had a long snout with wide nostrils, the tips of its horns were already showing, and its eyes were orange and bulging.
When it sneezed, a few sparks flew out. Percy, who was right in their path, moved quickly to avoid having his hair go up in flames, dropping down in a hurry and then slowly lifting his head from beneath the table.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Hagrid said with a smile that could only be described as maternal, stretching out his hand to pet it. The dragon immediately bit his fingers, but it did not seem to hurt the giant at all. He just smiled foolishly.
"Look, it knows its mum," he said proudly.
Percy looked at Harry, clearly wanting to say something that would surely sound very bad. Harry noticed and immediately shook his head, silently asking him not to say anything and to let Hagrid enjoy the moment.
"Hagrid, how long do Norwegian Ridgebacks take to grow?" Hermione asked, now with genuine interest, even though not long ago she had not stopped repeating how illegal it was to have a dragon.
Hagrid, still wearing that silly smile, was about to answer when he suddenly went completely pale. He jumped to his feet and rushed to the window. Harry and Percy also turned at once, clearly feeling that someone had been watching them. They only managed to catch a glimpse of blond hair and hurried footsteps rushing away at full speed.
"What's going on?" Ron asked.
"Someone was watching. He's running toward the castle," Hagrid said, panic creeping into his voice.
Harry ran straight for the door and spotted him instantly, even from that distance. There was no mistaking it.
"Percy!" he shouted.
At that same moment, a shadow shot past him at full speed. Percy's pace was more than twice Malfoy's. He ran with all his strength, chasing after him without hesitation. Malfoy, hearing the footsteps, turned around for just a second and saw Percy charging toward him like a monster, at a terrifying speed, with a serious, almost inhuman expression, like that of a criminal straight out of a nightmare.
"AAAAH!" Malfoy screamed, completely terrified to the core at the sight of the owner of his most recent nightmares. His legs somehow found a speed he did not even know he was capable of reaching.