Hidden Wings - Part I

Norbert(a)

Hagrid had invited Harry, Ron, Hermione and Jessamine over to his hut. He hadn't said why, just that it was important. The fact that he wanted them to come at night, under Harry's new cloak (which she found very cool, by the way) caused Jessamine's alarm bells to ring.
Who wouldn't get suspicious when someone asked you to sneak out of your dorm in the middle of the night, knowing that if you got caught you would scrub bedpans until your fingers bled?

That only kindled their curiosity and so, the four students met before the painting on the first floor and threw on Harry's cloak. Altogether, they barely fit under it and the tips of their shoes were a bit visible as they hurried through the castle.

Hagrid quickly let them in after they knocked and locked the door behind them.

"What's this all about, Hagrid?", asked Ron suspiciously once he'd yanked the cloak off.

The large man pointed them to the table, where the four students sat down.
"I'll show ye", he said excitedly and rubbed his hands. Putting on cooking mittens, he grabbed something out of the kettle hanging by the fire.
It looked like a big red stone that Hagrid dropped on the table. It was still smoking a bit and burned the table a little.

Jessamine gasped in surprise, as did Ron.

"Is that a dragon egg?", he asked in disbelief.

"A dragon egg?"
Hermione looked slightly panicked. "Aren't they illegal to have?"

Hagrid ignored her question.

"Hagrid", Harry said quietly, "Where did you get it?"

"Won it in a pub", said Hagrid and scratched his beard, "a stranger had it. He seemed glad t' get rid of it, if ya ask me."

Something definitely didn't sound right, but before Jessamine had the time to think about it, the egg cracked. Thin lines started to run across the ruby-red shell like a black spiderweb. More and more did the shell crackle, until a small, weirdly shaped head poked through a hole, covered in some kind of sticky stuff.

The dragon hissed and its tiny tongue flickered out. It squawked and, stumbling, tried to free itself of the shell. When it managed to break out of the egg completely, it fell over its tail and landed flat on its head.

It was a dragoness.

Jessamine watched her curiously. Despite the fact that this dragon was going to grow until she reached the size of a mansion, she found her extremely cute.
Esma didn't seem to share her opinion. She hid in Jessamine's hair.

Ron, Harry and Hermione all looked terrified. It was a baby, but still a fire-breathing dragon.

The dragon started to roar, which actually looked kind of adorable when she showed her tiny teeth.

"Isn't he sweet", Hagrid basically drooled at the sight of the dragon on his table. "I'll call him Norbert."

"Norbert?", Harry repeated, not being able to say more.

"You mean Norberta", Jessamine corrected Hagrid.

Hagrid looked stunned.
"Blimey", he mumbled. "Must be a girl then, if ya say so."

Jessamine stretched out her fingers and clicked her tongue.
Norberta cocked her head and looked at her before opening her jaws lightning-fast and closing her jaws around Jessamine's fingers.

Ron yelped and jumped away from the table, his chair clattering to the floor.

Hagrid said hastily: "Bad dragon, Norbert- no, Noberta", and wanted to grab her, but Jessamine mumbled: "It's ok, Hagrid."