G. Lippert - James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

"Norberta likes a nice fat mole, she does," Hagrid whispered. "And she can smell 'em right through the earth. She'd be great pest control if she didn't occasionally set the trees afire. Today's nice an' wet though, so I knew it'd be safe to give 'er a walkie."

"What happens if she flames on Grawp?" Morgan Patonia asked. "Is that what that iron door is for?"

Hagrid shook his head. "She loves Grawp even more'n me. She'd never flame 'im. The shield is just an extra safety measure. Last year, Headmistress McGonagall insisted he always wear it when he took Norberta out. S'just habit now."

Grawp tugged at the chain lead as Norberta hung back, sniffing at a tree trunk. Ponderously, she leaned against the tree and rubbed on it, as if scratching an itch. The tree shuddered and groaned, leaning noticeably.

"I wonder who'd win in a fight," Graham whispered, grinning, "the Whomping Willow or Norberta?"

"That's stupid," Ashley replied, shaking her head.

"I'd pay to see it," Graham said. "Battle of the Magical Titans. Just imagine it."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "I am imagining it, and it's stupid."

"Don't let her knock that tree over, Grawpy," Hagrid called as quietly as he could, cupping his hands to his mouth. "That's a Grimlock Elm. Not many of 'em left!"

Grawp tugged harder on the chain lead, but Norberta was stubborn. She rapped her tail on the hillside in annoyance, producing a perceptible shudder in the earth. She seemed to be sniffing at something just inside the perimeter of the trees. She clawed at the ground, pulling Grawp and pushing the trees apart with her massive shoulders. She snorted a small burst of yellow flame.

"What's she after?" Hagrid asked worriedly. "Er, maybe yeh lot should head back around the barn again. Just for safety's sake."

None of the students obeyed. Instead, they pushed forward, curious to see what was happening, although none ventured in front of Hagrid himself.

"Easy, Grawpy!" Hagrid called in a strangely small voice. "Not too hard! Give her just a little slack. We don't want to make her mad now. What the—"

Something small and yellow had suddenly flown out of the trees, as if frightened by Norberta's rooting. It fluttered between her legs and arced up, streaking into the grey sky.

"Oh no," Hagrid said in a worried voice. "I wondered where she'd got to."

With a violent, serpentine lunge, Norberta spun, her entire body trailing behind her head and her open, snapping jaws. Grawp was yanked entirely off his feet, refusing to let go of the chain. He landed with an enormous, muddy thump and slid along the wet grass, pulled by Norberta's wild thrashing.

"Everybody inside!" Hagrid yelled, shooting out both arms protectively. "It's a Wargle I got from Viktor Krum, and Norberta's just daft about it. It got loose a few days ago, but I figured it'd be halfway back to Bulgaria by now. Grawp! Hold 'er down! Don' let go, no matter what!"

The ground shuddered as Norberta thundered after the yellow creature, pulling Grawp along behind her. Great muddy streaks tore up the hillside in their wake. None of the students had budged. James stared at the spectacle, wide-eyed, unsure if it was amusing or frightening. The Wargle was about the size of a cat but canary yellow and with four fluttering wings. A long, tufted tail trailed behind it, whipping the air. James thought the creature looked almost impossibly cute. Norberta thrashed and leapt, snapping her jaws wildly, barely missing the fluttering, swooping shape. Thumping along behind, Grawp was heroically pulling himself up the chain, trying to reach Norberta's neck.

"That's it, Grawpy," Hagrid cheered, beginning to trot uncertainly out onto the hilltop. "I'll grab 'er tail if I can. You get 'er by the neck! Oh!"

The Wargle suddenly angled upwards, streaking into the sky beyond Norberta's reach. With a massive flourish, the dragon unfurled her wings and brought them down with a single, thunderous thrust. She leapt off the ground, roaring and pulling Grawp with her.

"I thought she couldn't fly!" Graham exclaimed. The students began to shuffle nervously backwards, moving toward the relative shelter of the barn.

As if sensing a hiding place, the Wargle arced downwards again, angling toward the crowd of students. Norberta thrashed her wings and lunged. She was amazingly fast for her size despite her injured wing. Students scattered in all directions as her shadow darkened the sky overhead. Hagrid ran back and forth, arms outstretched, as if he meant to catch the enormous dragon.

"Hold on, Grawp!" he called to his half-brother, who swung gamely from the chain lead, leaving a trail of mud gobbets. "You've got 'er! Don' let go!"

Norberta roared again, struggling to stay airborne. Her tail thrashed as she flapped, striking the chimney of the barn and obliterating it to flying bits of stone. The Wargle circled in a panic. Finally, the yellow creature seemed to sense that Norberta couldn't properly fly. It swooped upwards, aiming for the distant clouds.

"Grawp!" Hagrid called suddenly. "Shield! She's going to flame!"

Norberta gave one last thrust of her massive wings, stretched out her long neck, and roared. This time, the roar produced a long stream of blue-white flame. Heat blasted out over the hilltop. James felt it ripple through his hair. And then, with a reverberating thump, the dragon landed on all four claws. Grawp came down right next to her. He was covered in mud and bits of grass, but he instantly leapt up and threw his arms around the great dragon's neck, holding her down. The dragon didn't seem prepared to attempt flight again. She raised her head full length, jaws wide open. A moment later, a small black shape tumbled out of the sky, trailing smoke. It fell straight into Norberta's gullet and she swallowed audibly.

Hagrid shook his head. "Shame 'bout that," he said. "Wargles is hard to come by. I warned 'er, I did. Ah well, so long as nobody's hurt. Grawpy, are yeh all right, then?"

Grawp tentatively let go of the dragon's neck, and stepped away, still holding the chain lead. He glanced back at Hagrid. "Grawp got mud in nose," he said ponderously.

"Sorry 'bout that, Grawpy. Let's go ahead and put the old girl back in 'er pen, eh?" He turned back to the students, his face red and imploring. "It's prob'ly best if we, er, kep' that between ourselves, if yeh don' mind."

James glanced aside at Trenton, who had earlier threatened to write his parents about Hagrid's rather frightening menagerie.

"That," Trenton said, noticing James' look, "was totally bloody awesome."

As James and Ralph were heading back from the barn, they passed the greenhouses where Professor Longbottom's first-year Herbology class was just letting out. James spied Scorpius.

"I'll see you at lunch, Ralph," James called as he trotted away. "Places to go, people to see."

Ralph didn't reply, and James knew why. The bigger boy knew what James was up to. Scorpius heard James coming and stopped, turning back.

"I wondered when I'd be hearing from you, Potter," he said, staring up at the low clouds.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to talk to you about Defence Club."

"Of course," Scorpius smiled thinly. "Come to talk me out of teaching the hardcore spells, did you?"

"Actually, no," James replied. "I've been thinking about it. I can't stop you from showing people what you learned from your family, and besides, if people don't learn those things from you, they'll learn them from Corsica and Goyle. I came to you because…"

James couldn't quite bring himself to say it. He knew Rose's advice had been right, but he just hadn't known when or where he was supposed to use it. Now he did. Finally, he took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "I came to ask for your help."

"My help?" Scorpius replied suspiciously. "With what?"