Norbert's New Home

The weather had made a change for the better over the past month. All the snow had melted a while ago and students had stopped wearing their thick winter robes. Recently, Scotland was going through a heat wave, making most complain about the stuffy classrooms. George didn't share their sentiment. He stepped outside the castle and basked in the rising sun warming his body.

The walk to Hagrids hut helped distract George from the unpleasantries with McGonagall. Although he'd acted emotionless in her presence, his cold facade didn't reflect his genuine emotions. Other than Dumbledore, George didn't have anything against the professors. They were mostly good, honest working people. To threaten their families was a low blow. George would never have done it if the mission wasn't at risk. Hopefully, one day, he could explain and they would all understand.

George pushed the distracting thoughts aside and arrived outside Hagrid's door. He knocked with a rhythmic pattern and the door was opened soon after. Hagrid stuck his head out, exposing his frazzled beard to the open air. The unpleasant smell of burnt greasy hair filled George's nostrils.

"Has Norbert been misbehaving again?" asked George while covering his nose.

"Oh, George. It's you. Come in quick before someone sees ya."

George was practically dragged into the hut. Inside, Norbert was acting like what one would expect for a captive dragon kept in a confined area. The room was a warzone, nothing had survived. The table was burnt, the cages were crushed, and the various bottles and pots lining the shelves were smashed. It was hard to find something not damaged. If Norbert was locked in here any longer, then she might cause the roof to collapse.

Speaking of the devil, in the centre of the destruction was a mischievous dragon. She was roughly the size of a labrador and her dragonic features had become more distinct. Mainly, her fangs and spines had a much more deadly aura around them. From what George had researched, that meant she had started developing muscle-rotting venom. Good thing Hagrid had thick skin or he'd probably be dead by now.

Norbert was currently in the middle of ripping a leather armchair apart. Opon George entering the room, she immediately lifted her head and sniffed the air. A glimmer of recognition sparkled in her eyes as she whipped her head around and stared at George. If her lipless mouth filled with pointy teeth could emote, then George would imagine a stupid smile plastered on her face. He'd seen this look before on all of his previous visits. For whatever reason, Norbert had developed a close bond with him.

The next second, Norbert came charging at George. She lept up into the air and landed squarely in the centre of his chest. Her newly put-on weight and momentum caused George to lose his balance and fall over backwards. He landed on his back with the monstrous creature pinning him to the floor. Anyone else in his position would have been saying their final prayers, but for George, this was what he'd come to expect.

The over-excited dragon stuck out her long black tongue and ran it across George's face. There was no doubt she was showing her affection, but that didn't mean George liked it. Her tongue was rough and left a burning sensation in its wake. It felt like he'd just been slapped in the face with nettles, not pleasant, but not lethal.

"Norbert sure has taken a liking to you."

George could just about make out the half-giant looming over him. Instead of helping him, Hagrid had chosen to jealousy watch George being harassed. George had to take matters into his own hands and force Norbert off him. She tried to resist, even spitting out a few flames in resistance, but George wasn't going to put up with this puppy-love behaviour any longer. After wiping the itchy saliva off his cheek, George stood up and scowled at Norbert. He thrust his arm out and pointed towards the ground.

"Sit!"

Norbert's tail ceased its waggling as her wings folded up against her body. In a show of subservience, her body hit the ground and she lowered her head. After a couple of seconds, George reached into his enchanted sack and pulled out a chicken leg. Norbert could clearly smell the chicken but knew to keep her head down.

"Good girl", said George before tossing the chicken leg into the air.

Like a primed spring, Norbert lept into the air and caught the leg. The whole thing disappeared down her gullet without a single chew. Then she looked at George expectantly with big puppy-dog eyes. It was hard for George to take this 'wizard killing' species seriously. Weren't they meant to be impossible to domesticate? Against all laws of nature, Norbert was infatuated with him.

"Why can't she act like that with me? Don't she know who'd hatched her?" Hagrid grumbled.

George looked up at the half-giant, "you need to stop coddling her. Norbert will not respect you until she recognises you as her superior. Or at least... that's what I think."

To be honest, George was talking out of his arse. He had no idea why this creature was so loyal to him. He hadn't used his patron's disciplinary method on it and yet the untamable was acting like a young german shepherd. The only possible answer was the fact George was, for the most part, of a similar species. That could explain why it liked his smell so much, perhaps it could smell the adolescent dragon on him. If so, George would have to invest in some better deodorant. Otherwise, Norbert might just give away one of George's biggest secrets.

Hagrid took George's words to heart and looked to be in deep concentration. After a while of murmuring to himself, he slowly pulled a dead ferret out of his ragged coat. Norbert's reptilian eyes instantly left George and locked onto the dead animal.

Hagrid held out one hand while mimicking George's mannerisms, "now Norbert, there's a good dragon. I want you to listen very carefully. Sit."

Norbert glanced at George as if she was checking for his approval. George shrugged in response which seemed to remove any restraint the young dragon had. In direct opposition to Hagrid's orders, she lept at the dead ferret and bit down. Unfortunately, Hagrid's hand wasn't given much thought as Norbert's fangs dug in.

"Bad girl, Norbert, very bad. Let go, right this second."

George had to give it to Hagrid. Even with his massive hand bleeding, he kept his cool. Raising too many dangerous animals must help build a healthy tolerance for these sorts of injuries. Since Norbert was showing no sign of letting go without the ferret, and Hagrid wasn't for using force, George decided to step in.

"Norbert, heel!"

The dragon grunted in annoyance and let go of Hagrid's hand. Then she circled George a couple of times before laying down by his side. Hagrid lifted his mangled hand and winced. Most of the ferret was gone, and a horse-shoe shape of puncher wounds was covering his palm. Hagrid seemed all too familiar with this occurrence as he swiftly pulled out a rag and bandaged his hand. He also downed a small bottle, presumably to counter the venom.

While Hagrid was tending to his wounds, George had another look around the destroyed hut.

"Have you moved my trunk? I can't seem to find it."

"Don't worry yourself. It's still in one piece", Hagrid explained. "When Norbert start gettin' a bit restless, I took it out back so she didn't break somethin'."

It didn't take much to see why Hagrid had made that decision. Even though that trunk had a bucket load of defensive spells placed on its leather exterior, it probably wasn't designed to face an agitated dragon.

"Thank you, Hagrid, but you should have called me over. Norbert needs to go in the trunk before she tears your whole house apart."

Hagrid scratched his burnt beard nervously, "but what if she don't like it in there? Nothin' been real and all."

"Oh, it's all real alright. It's like another world. Norbert won't even notice the difference", George replied confidently.

George walked through the hut and opened the back door. He stuck his head out and was relieved to see his trunk resting beside a pile of firewood. He grabbed the trunk's handle and dragged it back inside the hut. Besides a few light scorch marks, the trunk looked as good as new. Before George could begin to unlock the lid, Norbert came galloping over.

George turned to Hagrid and pointed at Norbert, "I think she wants to go inside. May I?"

Hagrid looked between George and the dragon before giving a reluctant nod. It was a good thing too since Norbert could hardly wait to go back inside. She'd break the magic locks if they waited any longer. While wrestling the trunk away from Norbert, George managed to lift the lid. The young dragon immediately lept into the trunk and landed headfirst at the bottom of the ladder. Luckily, falling a dozen feet was a minor inconvenience for Norbert as she stumbled to her feet, shook her disorientated head, and ran for the door.

By the time George and Hagrid had climbed into the trunk, Norbert had already broken the door's old lock and ran for the hills. Hagrid was understandably panicked as he futilely ran after her while calling Norbert's name. The overly mother-like instincts of this behemoth of a man were enough to get a genuine chuckle out of George. He'd fake laughed so many times over the past few months that it was weird to have it happen naturally. It felt good.

After Hagrid had freaked out enough from Norbert's disappearance, George decided to put him out of his misery. He walked up to the half-giant and gave him a firm pat on the back.

"Relax, Hagrid. Norbert will be fine."

Mama Hagrid wasn't gelling with George's calm disposition. It kind of made sense. His new favourite pet was gallivanting off in a new world he knew scarily little about. George could have anything in here after all. To ease his nerves with less-than-empty words, George decided to perform a demonstration. He walked over to the cliff face, to Hagrid's confusion, and proceeded to jump off.

The look on Hagrid's face as he plummeted off the cliff was incredible. It was a mixture of bafflement and pure horror, priceless. The cliffs were around four-hundred feet tall, so George had around five seconds to enjoy the fall. He twisted his body around and saw the tide was out. The coastline filled with jagged rocks and sand was getting closer. Relief washed over George since he didn't want to get his clothes wet.

A split second before George's body was skewered by a particularly sharp rock, he felt a powerful force pull him up. Like a thousand tiny seatbelts springing into action, his body came to an abrupt stop. Then the invisible force faded away, and George gently lowered the last few feet to the ground. He landed with a bit of a bang, but it was nothing compared to the alternative without the safety enchantment. George got back to his feet and stared up at where he'd fallen. Hagrid was looking over the edge, probably worried out of his mind.

"George!? Are you alright?!" the half-giant bellowed.

George waved his arms and shouted, "I'm perfectly okay. Thanks for asking."

"But… how?! And why?!"

"Just wait a sec. I'll be right with you."

George didn't want to have this chat four-hundred feet apart. He walked over to the cliff face and felt around the white stone. He kept feeling for different little alcoves seemingly formed by the tide until he found one that moved. George twisted that lump of stone like a handle, and a wall in front of him became a door. On the other side of this door was a view from outside the shack. More specifically, the view from directly outside the front door. George could see Hagrid's back in the distance, leaning over the cliff edge.

George walked through the door and was magically taken back to the top of the cliff. He turned around and saw the doorway of the shack, the passage he'd just taken had vanished automatically. George had the fairy to thank for this discovery. It had uncovered some of this man-made world's quirks during its explorations. They were mainly quality of life and safety magic, making this place perfect for children, or childish dragons.

Hagrid obviously had no idea what was going on. The poor guy was still staring over the edge of the cliff, one push away from careening to his dea… soft landing. George wasn't in a mischievous mood today, so he just gave Hagrid a gentle pat on the back. However, Hagrid must have not been expecting that. The half-giant jumped in surprise and lost his footing. George grabbed Hagrid's coat and tried to pull him back, but the weight difference was too much. Hagrid went over the cliff, pulling George with him.

The conversation was rather difficult after their fall. Once tensions had lowered, Hagrid agreed to return to the shack and discuss Norbert's future over a cup of tea. It may have taken half an hour longer than he'd intended, but George finally managed to explain how this world worked.

"So, Norbert wouldn't get lost?" Hagrid asked for the third time.

George rubbed his eyes, "she 'can't' get lost, it's impossible. If you walk long enough in any direction, you'll always come back to the shack."

Once again, the fairy was the one to find out that bit of trivia. It turned out the trunk's vast interior was a six-mile-long Mobius Strip. There was no beginning, middle or end unless the shack counted. Trying to plot a map would be pretty much impossible.

"But what about the sea? Can't she…"

"Already tried, you can't drown. Everything is super buoyant in here, even a block of iron would float."

"But what about food and water?"

"There's a whole ecosystem living here, including a massive lake full of fish. Norbert is a dragon for Pete's sake. For the few occasions we're not here, she can go hunting."

Speaking of the devil, Norbert randomly turned back up at the shack. She was covered in wet mud and gasping for air. Clearly, she'd had a fun time out in the wild. After she caught her breath, Norbert nuzzled up to George. He rolled his eyes and pulled out a bucket brimming with chicken blood.

"Sit"

Norbert complied before the word had finished leaving George's mouth. For her obedience, he didn't hesitate to hand over the bucket. She picked it up with her teeth, tilted her head back, and poured the entire thing down her throat in one go. With a low-pitch burp, Norbert dropped the bucket and curled up into a ball. Seconds later, Hagrid and George could hear her loudly snoring with little puffs of flames being expelled with every breath.

"She does seem to like it here… with you", Hagrid said with a sigh.

George looked up to see Hagrid staring into his empty cup of tea.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's just this place. It isn't real, is it? Maybe Norbert would be better off in the real world… with his own kind."

George's eyes went wide in surprise. Wow, he wouldn't have ever guessed Hagrid of all people would be saying that.

He had to know, "what's brought this on then? Do you not want Norbert anymore?"

Hagrid put down his cup and looked at the sleeping dragon, "it's not like that. I've always wanted a dragon, ask anyone. But this doesn't feel right. It's like a prison in here. As she gets older, she won't be allowed to leave."

George chuckled, having come to a realisation, "in today's world, there's no such thing as freedom for a dragon. This place isn't so bad. If anything, I think Norbert is lucky to have this option. It's more than most of her kind could wish for."

Then George gestured around him, "this place will be exclusively inhabited by Norbert. In the 'real' world, she'll have to share a sanctuary with many territorial and older dragons. In the trunk, she's safe to run and play to her heart's content. So what if this place isn't real, the birds and fish in here don't know that. Put yourself in Norbert's scaley shoes, where would you rather live? I know what I'd pick."

Hagrid brewed over George's word for a good minute. It was hard to guess where he'd lean. For George, it wasn't the end of the world either way. Then again, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like the little monster's company from time to time.

"Alright then, Norbert can stay here. Will you be okay lookin' after her over the holidays?"

George glanced down at the little monster sleeping peacefully and smiled, "I think we'll be fine."

Since he'd spent nearly a full hour in Hagrid's company, George decided to truant his first lesson. He'd missed most of it already, there wasn't much point going there now. Hopefully, Snape wouldn't mind. Well, even if he did, it wouldn't matter. By decree of his patron, George was untouchable. Those who dare stand in his way will burn and all that jazz. The worst he could get was detention.

In the next couple of days, George wouldn't hear anything about his blatant rulebreaking. He didn't get so much as a funny look from Snape. It turned out that all a student needed to get out of trouble was a scary guardian who'd threaten the professor's families. This must have been what it felt like to be a Malfoy, it felt pretty liberating. That being said, there were some downsides. The general wariness Flitwick and Sprout showed around George was one such example. Only Binns the ghost and Hagrid were acting normally around him now.

McGonagall left the school at some point. It wasn't announced and the other professors refused to provide an explanation. They all parroted the same answer, 'family emergency'. A lot of unfounded rumours spread, but George was the only student who knew the truth. She must have wanted to confirm her brother's and niece's safety, reasonable enough. Perhaps she would have them moved to a safe house. Regardless, her timing wasn't great. It was looking like she'd be absent during the end-of-year exams.

First came a good chunk of the written exams which involved funnelling the entire year's students into a sweaty room for an hour or two. Although each paper differed for the various subjects, George found them all equally tedious. All that was required of the first years was memory recall with barely any problem-solving. George spent most of those days regurgitating what he'd read at the start of the school year with slight changes. It was so easy, the only way he'd fail is if he fell asleep mid-exam.

The practical exams were a little more tolerable, mainly for two reasons. They took less time and were completed individually. Flitwick wanted a pineapple to tapdance, and Snape wanted a Forgetfulness potion. Both tasks were simple enough, even with the funny looks. As an added extra, George showed Flitwick his progress with Disillusionment. However, the half-goblin didn't seem too impressed when George blended into a pile of leatherbound books. It was sad to say, but Flitwick had lost his number-one student. No doubt in large part to Dumbledore's interference.

Last but not least was Transfiguration without McGonagall. Everyone was wondering who would replace her for the exams but George had an idea. His prediction was proven right when the headmaster himself turned up to class. Dumbledore was a former Transfiguration teacher once before, so it made sense. Although, the looks George was getting told him there might be other reasons.

One by one, the students took their physical exams privately until only one student remained. Just like during the Sorting Hat Ceremony, George was the last one. His name was called and George entered McGonagall's office. Inside, Dumbledore sat behind McGonagall's desk while reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. On the desk was a small cage with a white mouse inside.

"As I'm sure you've heard, I'll be asking you to change this mouse into a snuff box. You'll have five minutes to complete this task. The time will start when you're ready", Dumbledore said while skimming the paper.

"A snuff box? Doesn't seem appropriate for eleven-year-olds", George questioned while pulling out his wand.

"The purpose of this exam is to test your Transfigurations skills. Whether it be a snuff box, brooch or a decorative platter, it does not matter", Dumbledore answered calmly.

"I guess that makes sense. However… the mouse might not share that opinion. To be turned into an inanimate object over and over again. It can't be pleasant."

Dumbledore lowered the paper, "would you like the exam to be amended?"

George held his hands up and shook his head, "no, no, no. I'm just glad we're on the same page. It's like they say, 'The ends justify the means'. Ain't that right, professor?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly and said, "at times, yes, they do", before returning his gaze to the paper.

George sat down opposite Dumbledore and grabbed the cage. He stuck his hand inside the cage and pulled out the mouse. The creature didn't struggle, in fact, it barely moved. George had a closer look and noticed Its little eyes were glazed over.

"The mouse is in a trace. It will not experience any discomfort whether you fail or succeed."

George shrugged, he didn't care either way. If the school liked torturing animals for the sake of education, then that was their prerogative. It's not like the muggle or his patron had better moral standing.

"Ready when you are", he said while pointing his wand at the mouse.

Dumbledore folded up the paper and pulled out a tiny hourglass. He gave it a gentle shake and the sand began to glow. After a few seconds, the sands reduced in number, presumably to make the time equal five minutes. Then Dumbledore turn the five-minute glass upside down and placed it on the table.

"Your time starts now."

Five minutes later, George was holding a beautifully bejewelled golden box. He placed it on the table, beside the hourglass, and reclined in his chair. For whatever reason, George had felt it necessary to put the extra effort in. It wasn't like he had a point to prove, but he felt like actually trying in at least one of these exams.

Dumbledore picked up the snuff box and adjust his glasses, "quite impressive. It's what I'd expect from professor McGonagall's star pupil."

George shook his head, "I'm not too sure about that. I think her opinion of me has likely changed in recent days."

Dumbledore carefully put the snuff box back in the cage. Then he picked up the newspaper and began reading it again. And then... nothing. George was a little confused. Wasn't there going to be something more? Why else would he have been saved till last?

"Is that all, professor?"

Dumbledore licked his fingers and turned the page, "yes. You can leave now."

"Uh", George grunted while getting out of his chair.

"And I thought you were gonna give me something extra. Perhaps test my flame conjuration?"

"No need", Dumbledore replied while continuing to read leisurely. "You seem quite sure of yourself. I'll leave it to your discretion."

George stared at Dumbledore, but the old man wasn't giving anything away. He just kept reading that bloody newspaper. It was obviously part of some act, but George couldn't see the point. Was this meant to be some sort of elaborate provocation?

"In your own time, George. I have other matters that demand my attention", Dumbledore said halfheartedly.

In the end, George left the office unsure of what had just happened. Had anything happened? It was hard to tell. Regardless, D-day was less than a week away. Whatever Dumbledore was planning, George couldn't afford to get distracted. That was for his patron to deal with. All George had to think about right now was how to steal the Philosopher's stone.