HP: The Dangerous Azkaban Professor

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On the other side of the castle, Harry and his two friends were huddled together in the common room, whispering anxiously about Hagrid.

So far… the worst-case scenario had already happened.

Hagrid had indeed been raising a dragon. And to make matters even worse… Malfoy had seen the baby dragon hatch out of its shell with his own eyes.

Ever since that moment, Malfoy had been strutting around with that smug, malicious little smile on his face, constantly casting knowing glances their way — and honestly, it was making them more than a little uneasy.

Fortunately, they had managed to talk some sense into Hagrid, who had been completely beside himself with excitement, and convinced him to hand the baby dragon over to Ron's brother, Charlie.

All they needed to do now… was to wait until midnight. Then, they would sneak the dragon into a wooden crate and carry it up to the top of the Astronomy Tower, where Charlie's colleagues would be waiting on their broomsticks to fly the little creature off to Romania.

"Try not to worry so much, Hermione…" Harry, for once, was the one doing the comforting, noticing how anxious the young witch looked. "We just have to get through tonight. Once we hand Norbert over safely, it won't matter what Malfoy says. Who's going to believe him anyway?"

"Exactly!" Ron nodded firmly, his face twisted in frustration. "Every time I see that smug, nasty face of his these days, I feel like punching him right in the nose."

"He even asked to borrow a book from me the other day… but honestly, I think he just wanted an excuse to come over and mock us…"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Did you lend it to him?"

"Of course I did," Ron replied at once. "We've got to keep him calm, don't we? What if he really goes and reports us to the Ministry of Magic or something?"

Hermione snapped her book shut, her expression tense as she turned to Ron, double-checking anxiously again, "It's midnight, right? That's what the letter said — we meet them at midnight?"

"You've asked me that five times already…" Ron sighed, clearly exasperated. "Yes, Hermione, that's exactly what the letter said. But if you still don't believe me, I can show it to you again…"

As he spoke, he flipped open his textbook… but the moment he did, he suddenly froze, his face draining of color right in front of them.

"Oh no…" His voice cracked slightly, the words rasping out as he looked up at them, eyes wide with horror. "I just remembered… I left the letter inside the book…"

Hermione's eyes flew wide open in shock. She stared at him, utterly incredulous, and asked in disbelief, "Don't tell me… it's the same book Malfoy borrowed?"

"I wish I could tell you it wasn't…" Ron pulled a face like he'd swallowed something foul. "But… yeah… it's that book…"

Harry and Hermione groaned at the exact same time, their shoulders slumping in despair.

"It's way too late to change the plan now…" Harry told them, trying to steady his own nerves as much as theirs. "We don't have enough time to send another letter to Charlie by owl. This… this is the only way to get rid of Norbert. We have to send him off tonight…"

"But Malfoy won't let this go…" Hermione said, her voice filled with worry and frustration. "If he reads that letter, he'll know everything! It's the perfect chance for him to expose us!"

"Don't forget, we've still got the Invisibility Cloak," Harry reminded them quickly. "Malfoy doesn't know about that."

"Harry's right. No matter how clever they think they are, there's no way they'll figure out we can turn invisible," Ron chimed in, nodding along in agreement.

That night, the three of them crept across the grounds under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, heading toward Hagrid's hut. As they approached, they spotted Fang sitting obediently by the front door, his massive tail wrapped in bandages.

Tears shimmered in Hagrid's eyes as he carefully placed the baby dragon inside a wooden crate, his voice hoarse and choked with emotion as he muttered farewell to Norbert, almost sobbing as he spoke. "I have packed some mice and brandy for the trip… just in case you get hungry on the way."

His voice trembled, low and rough, as he turned toward the three of them, who had just lifted the Invisibility cloak from their heads. "I… I even packed his teddy bear, so he doesn't get lonely while he's traveling…"

A loud, tearing sound came from inside the crate, and judging by the noise, Hermione figured the poor teddy bear had probably already met its tragic end.

"Goodbye… Norbert…" Hagrid's voice cracked completely as he broke down in tears. "I'll miss yeh… don't forget me…"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness themselves as they watched the tearful farewell, but there was no time to linger any longer. It was already so late… they really couldn't afford to waste another minute.

Harry stepped forward and pulled the Invisibility Cloak over the wooden crate, and the three of them quickly squeezed beneath it as well. Hermione took out her wand and, with a wave, cast a Levitation Charm that gently lifted the crate into the air. Meanwhile, Harry and Ron stayed close on either side, ready to grab hold of the crate themselves if Hermione's magic started to falter.

To this day, they couldn't quite remember how they managed to haul that crate all the way up to the Astronomy Tower. Every single step along the way had felt like pure torture.

And to make things worse… just as they were making their way up one of the long, spiraling staircases, they had the terrible luck of running into Peeves the Poltergeist.

Peeves was hovering there with a bucket and a dripping brush, happily smearing some kind of grease all over the stairs while humming a weird little tune to himself. It had taken every ounce of focus and effort the three of them had just to avoid being discovered by him.

"Come on… just a bit more… we're almost there…" Harry panted as they finally stumbled into the corridor below the top of the tower, utterly exhausted.

But before they could catch their breath, a sudden noise from up ahead startled them so badly they nearly dropped the crate right then and there. Luckily, they remembered in time that they were still hidden under the cloak, so they quickly shrank back into the shadows, eyes fixed on the source of the commotion, which was barely ten paces away.

In the faint light, they could make out two dark, tangled silhouettes — one tall, one short — and the flickering glow of a lantern swinging in the air.

It was Professor McGonagall.

She was wearing a set of plaid-patterned pajamas and had her hair pinned up under a hairnet. One hand was firmly gripping Malfoy's ear, dragging him along without the slightest hint of mercy.

"Detention!" she barked sternly. "And twenty points off Slytherin! Roaming the castle in the middle of the night… what exactly did you think you were doing?"

"No, Professor, you have to listen to me — Harry and the others, they're coming, and they've got a dragon with them!" Malfoy blurted out, scrambling to defend himself.

"Utter nonsense. That's the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard." McGonagall looked furious. "We'll see what Professor Snape has to say about this. Come along!"

Still clutching Malfoy by the ear, she dragged him off in the opposite direction, leaving the corridor empty once more.

Under the Invisibility Cloak, the three of them couldn't contain their relief. Ron looked positively ecstatic, and even Hermione, who had been gloomy for days, couldn't help but break into a smile.

They carried the crate all the way to the top of the Astronomy Tower, but when they arrived, Charlie's colleagues weren't there yet.

"Who would've thought, in the end, it'd be Professor McGonagall who helped us get rid of that problem?" Hermione exclaimed, spinning lightly on her toes with a cheerful little dance step, the gloom from before completely gone from her face. "Honestly, I'm so happy right now… I feel like dancing to celebrate!"

"Don't!" Harry and Ron both reached out instinctively to stop her. "I think you need to calm down a little—"

"Alright, alright…" Hermione laughed lightly, throwing up her hands in surrender. "But still… the look on Malfoy's face just now was absolutely priceless…"

At the mention of it, all three of them couldn't help but picture the scene again — Malfoy being dragged away by the ear, stumbling along behind Professor McGonagall. The memory alone was enough to set them off, and they broke into soft, stifled giggles, unable to hold it in.

A few minutes later, four figures swooped down from the darkness on broomsticks, cutting off their conversation mid-laugh.

Charlie's friends greeted them warmly with bright grins, exchanging casual jokes as they tied the wooden crate carrying Norbert securely to the broomsticks. As they worked, they chatted cheerfully about their days as students at Hogwarts, their voices carrying a little too loudly in the quiet night.

Feeling a bit nervous, Harry couldn't help but gently remind them to lower their voices, glancing anxiously around.

Once the crate was tightly fastened and Norbert secured for the journey, the trio shook hands with each of them in turn. Then, with a final wave, the young wizards mounted their broomsticks and soared off into the sky, disappearing into the darkness beyond the tower.

At last, it was over.

They had finally gotten rid of Norbert. With no heavy crate to drag around on the way back, the three of them felt as though their steps had become lighter too, almost as if they were floating.

There really couldn't have been a better ending — the dragon had been safely sent away, Slytherin had lost house points, and Malfoy would be serving detention.

"I'm so ridiculously happy right now…" Hermione beamed as they descended the steps, her mood still soaring. "Nothing, absolutely nothing, could ruin this moment…"

"Oh…? Is that so?"

A hoarse, unpleasant voice suddenly cut through the air. The three of them froze on the spot as Filch's pale, sallow face appeared around the corner of the staircase.

They stood there, stunned, as the realization hit them like a jinx — in all their excitement, they had completely forgotten the Invisibility Cloak… it was still lying on top of the tower.

And just like that… they had been caught red-handed.

"Well, well, well… look what I've found…" A triumphant, smug grin crept onto Filch's face as he deliberately dragged out his words, his beady eyes flickering between the three of them with obvious glee. "Go on, celebrate all you want… but I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you… you're in trouble."

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[Chapter End's]

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