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Harry was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do |
with work, though. He watched an owl flutter toward the school across |
the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only |
one who ever sent him letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. |
Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but -- |
Harry suddenly jumped to his feet. |
"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily. |
"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had turned white. |
"We've got to go and see Hagrid, now." |
"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up. |
"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, scrambling up the grassy |
slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and |
a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How |
many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? |
Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?" |
"What are you talking about?" said Ron, but Harry, sprinting across the |
grounds toward the forest, didn't answer. |
Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and |
sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl. |
"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?" |
"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut him off. |
"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know |
that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards |
with look like?" |
"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off." |
He saw the three of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows. |
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head -- |
that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' |
he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up." |
Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas. "What did you talk to him |
about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?" |
"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. |
"Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here.... |
He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told |
him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' |
then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks.... |
Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play |
cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he |
didn' want it ter go ter any old home.... So I told him, after Fluffy, a |
dragon would be easy..." |
"And did he -- did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, try ing |
to keep his voice calm. |
"Well -- yeah -- how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around |
Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to |
calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off |
ter sleep --" |
Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. |
"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey -- |
where're yeh goin'?" |
Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they |
came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy |
after the grounds. |
"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry. "Hagrid told that stranger |
how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that |
cloak -- it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope |
Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop |
him. Where's Dumbledore's office?" |
They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the |
right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor |
did they know anyone who had been sent to see him. |
"We'll just have to --" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across |
the hall. |
"What are you three doing inside?" |
It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books. |
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely, |
Harry and Ron thought. |
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though |
this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?" |
Harry swallowed -- now what? |
"It's sort of secret," he said, but he wished at once he hadn't, because |
Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared. |
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He |
received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for |
London at once." |
"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?" |
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many |
demands on his time -- |
"But this is important." |
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, |
Potter. |
"Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor -- it's |
about the Sorcerer's tone --" |
Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books |
she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up. |
"How do you know --?" she spluttered. |
"Professor, I think -- I know -- that Sn- that someone's going to try |
and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore." |
She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion. |
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. I don't |
know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can |
possibly steal it, it's too well protected." |
"But Professor --" |
"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down |
and gathered up the fallen books. I suggest you all go back outside and |
enjoy the sunshine." |
But they didn't. |
"It's tonight," said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was |
out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found |
out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He |
sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when |