A Web Of Magic

"I won the egg off a chap in a card game in Hogsmeade. It was a great deal I should say," Hagrid said proudly.

"You won it in a card game? Who'd wager a dragon egg in a card game? They are illegal to own and trade. I would have got one myself if not for that," Magnus gave Hagrid his opinion.

"See Hagrid. I said it was against the law to own one," Hermione gave him a look that said "I told you so". Harry and Ron too agreed with her words. They thought it would be cool having a dragon egg but that thing set Hagrid's beard on fire as soon as it was born. Who knows what else it would do once it grew up? Ron was especially worried as he had heard scary things about them from Charlie.

"But I always wanted a dragon since I was young. Don't worry I'll take good care of him," Hagrid tried to convince them. it was at this time that the baby dragon spat out fire at the rug thereby setting it on fire. As the rest of them got busy trying to put the fire out, Magnus looked closely at the hatchling dragon. The baby dragon had large spiny wings, a skinny body with a long snout and wide nostrils. There were horn stubs on top of its head and it had bulging orange eyes. 'Hmm, this looks like a Norwegian Ridgeback,' Magnus guessed.

Hagrid started playing with the baby dragon as it tried to chew his finger. Only a half-giant like him could probably remain unhurt at that. As the baby dragon took another attempt at biting off his finger, Hagrid said with a tone of finality. "I have decided to call him Norbert. He really knows me now. Watch this. Norbert, where's mummy?" Hagrid looked at the baby dragon lovingly. The baby dragon only coughed up fire in response.

"He's lost his marbles," Ron said flabbergasted from the side. Harry nodded his head in agreement while Hermione didn't know how to respond without looking impolite. She looked at Magnus with an inquiring gaze but he was lost in his own thought.

'Hmm, it's not easy finding dragons in Britain. I wonder if I can get some dragon blood from it when it grows up a bit. Imagine all the experiments I could do with it. I might even upgrade my Flesh-suit and give it some dragon abilities. It might also help with the curse. I should read up once again on the Twelve uses of Dragon Blood written jointly by Headmaster Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. Speaking of Nicholas Flamel,' Magnus made some plans in his mind.

"Well, whatever you do Hagrid, you probably cannot keep him for long. Dragons don't like staying in indoors for too long, they get very temperamental and set everything they see on fire. If you bring it out, the chances of someone else spotting it are very high. You have to be very careful. Now what about the Philosopher's stone and Prof. Snape?" Magnus asked curiously.

The Gryffindor trio looked at each other in question for a moment before they seemed to have reached a consensus. Magnus looked on in amus.e.m.e.nt at all of this secrecy. Hagrid was lost in his own world playing with the baby dragon. Hermione took the lead and started speaking, "Harry noticed something was wrong with Prof. Snape on the day of Halloween when the troll attacked. He saw Prof. Snape going upstairs towards the third-floor corridor while the report said that the troll was in the dungeons. We didn't think anything of it at first, but Prof. Snape also jinxed Harry's broom during the first quidditch match. I personally saw him do it and interrupted him."

Before Magnus could ask how that had happened Ron helpfully pitched in, "She set his robes on fire from behind." Hermione turned slightly red at that as she saw Magnus look at her amused. She recovered her composure and continued, "We then saw Prof. Snape limping one day with a bleeding leg. We think he tried to go through the third-floor hidden door and Fluffy attacked him. Fluffy is the three-headed dog I told you about before. Hagrid raised him."

"I'm telling you Fluffy is a good boy. He wouldn't hurt no one. Besides why would Prof. Snape try to go through him. It doesn't make any sense," Hagrid pitched in from the side. Magnus tuned out Hagrid's words when he said that a Cerberus wouldn't hurt anyone. To Hagrid the beast's attacks probably seem playful and ticklish but to others they would be terrifying.

"Come on Hagrid. It's very clear that Prof. Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's stone for himself," Harry said vehemently. Ron and Hermione seemed to agree with him.

"Steal the Philosopher's stone? There's a stone in the castle? And how do you know that?" Magnus asked with more interest.

"We figured it out. You know that robbery attempt at Gringotts? Hagrid and I were there that day to withdraw an item from there for Headmaster Dumbledore. That's before we met you that day. Few days later there was a robbery attempt just in the same vault. We think Headmaster Dumbledore is hiding the stone in the castle and Fluffy is guarding it. Now Snape is trying to steal it. I even saw him threaten Prof. Quirrell about it in the Forbidden forest that day after the last quidditch match," Harry said everything he knew and speculated. Ron and Hermione added some details from the side.

"But how did you figure out the stone?" Magnus was still skeptical. He put the other illogical things to the side for now.

"Well, Hagrid slipped out about it being related to Nicholas Flamel one day when he was drunk. We searched for him all over the library and finally figured out that he was famous for creating and possessing the last known philosopher's stone. What else of his could be so worthy of being hidden in the castle?" Hermione explained.

"Yes, it was really hard finding out about Nicholas Flamel and the philosopher's stone," Harry said aggrieved.

"Yeah, it was pretty hard. Hermione finally found it in an old book. We had to read so many books," Ron looked scared recalling their search. He had never looked through so many books even for his studies.

"Well, you could have simply asked me. Nicholas Flamel is a very famous alchemist. I reckon plenty of professors heard about him too. Maybe even some of the senior students might have read about him. They do have alchemy as an elective in the sixth year," Magnus shook his head at them. It all seemed so inefficient to him. Well, it was pretty smart for first-years, but still inefficient in his eyes. They could have simply asked for help.

"We were too caught up in the moment," Hermione looked sheepish.

"And we don't think anyone would trust us when we said about Prof. Snape's involvement. Even Hagrid doesn't believe us," Harry looked at Hagrid in blame. The boy looked like he had some trust issues. Well, Magnus could understand that feeling.

"I'm telling you for the last time. Prof. Snape would not do something like that. Headmaster Dumbledore trusts him very much. Besides, he's one of the staff responsible for protecting the stone. He wouldn't go against Dumbledore's orders," Hagrid argued. Magnus agreed with Hagrid one some points. But it was clear Hagrid's trust was more in Dumbledore than in Snape. Well, it wasn't a surprise why.

"Well, you all did a brilliant work investigating, but I do have some questions. Why would Nicholas Flamel, a man who has lived for over 600 years, need to place his stone in Dumbledore's care here? Even if he did, the safest place to keep the stone is probably in the Headmaster's pocket. I reckon no one is bold enough to try stealing from there. So even if what you are saying about Prof. Snape is true, there's probably nothing for you to worry about. Dumbledore probably has that covered. The whole thing is probably a set up. There may not even be a stone even if you cross the Cerberus," Magnus explained to them.

"Maybe the stone is too big to fit in a pocket?" Ron spoke doubtfully.

"Really Ron? There are plenty of spells to accomplish that. Even I could do them, there's nothing to say about the Headmaster. Look, these are not things that first years like you should worry about. Leave it to the professors. Even if you try hard and find a culprit trying to steal the stone, what are you going to do? Use a levitation spell on them? You barely know few spells," Magnus advised them. Hagrid nodded his head in agreement from the side. According to him, Headmaster Dumbledore will take care of everything. He's the greatest wizard of this time after all.

The three Gryffindors looked admonished. Harry looked like he didn't want to give up so easily, but even he couldn't deny that what Magnus said made sense. Even if they catch the thief, what can they do to him? The three of them left the hut later with Magnus before warning Hagrid once again about the baby dragon but it didn't look like he took them seriously. Magnus split from the trio later and went towards the Ravenclaw tower. 'So, dragon blood and possibly the philosopher's tone eh? This day keeps getting better,' he smirked to himself as he made some plans.