//------------------------------// // Norbert // Story: Cinematic Adventures: Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone // by extremeenigma02 //------------------------------// The sun shined brightly on another magical day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. Three months passed since the discovery of the Mirror of Erised and now the group tried their best to put it out of their heads. All the snow melted along the grounds and spring had taken over the castle. Only about a day since their talk with Dumbledore and the princesses, Harry took Hedwig out into the very courtyard and allowed her to fly free for the winter. And now that spring had finally come, Hedwig flew high over the Quidditch Pitch as she made for the Grand Hall. Speaking of which, the Equestria group sat along the Gryffindor table with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they studied their books. While they still searched for information on Nicholas Flamel, at the same time they had to study for final exams. After all, it was only a few short months till the end of the school year. “Any creature else freaking out about finals as much as I am?” Ocellus asked. “Very unlikely,” Gallus answered. It was then Hedwig flew right toward the table where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Equestrians were studying. “Hi, Hedwig,” Harry greeted. “Hello Hedwig!” Silverstream smiled. “So, how was your trip down South?” The Hedwig hopped a bit toward Silverstream. The owl proceeds to hoot and chirp as Silverstream silently nodded her head. “Oh, I see! I bet it is lovely over there! I’d definitely want to tell my friends about this so we can visit.” “You can talk to Hedwig, Silverstream?” Fluttershy replied, sipping a cup of tea. “Oh yes, Professor Fluttershy. It does help that our species is part bird after all. Mostly a series of tweets here and there, but Hedwig gets really excited when she has things to talk about.” “How come she never tells any stories to me?” Gallus replied. “I’m part bird too.” Hedwig looked at Gallus for a moment, then quickly twist her head toward Silverstream and hoots softly toward the Hippogriff. Silverstream makes a face as if she understood word for word. “Such language?!” Silverstream gasped. “What? What?” Gallus asked, looking at the girls. “What did she say about me?” “I… wouldn’t dare repeat it.” While this was going on, it was then Hermione noticed that Ron’s method of studying… lacked studying at all. As a matter of fact, he was mostly looking at his card collection from all the Chocolate Frogs he received. “Look at you playing with your cards,” Hermione muttered. “Pathetic! We’ve got finals coming up soon.” “I’m ready!” Ron replied confidently. “Ask me any question.” “All right, what are the three most crucial ingredients in a Forgetfulness Potion?” “… I forgot.” “Ron what, may I ask, do you plan to do if this comes up in the final exam?” Smolder asked. “Copy off you?” Ron suggested. “No, you won’t!” Twilight spoke, appalled. “I can’t believe you’d even suggest such a thing.” “Yeah, every pony knows you should ‘never’ try to cheat off a dragon,” Spike smirked. “Besides, according to Professor McGonagall, we’re to be given special quills bewitched with an anti-cheating spell,” Hermione pointed out. “Gee that makes me itch just thinking about it,” Sandbar replied, scratching his arm. “That’s insulting!” Ron argued. “It’s as if they don’t trust us!” Ron proceeded to check one card, only for his face to grow irritated. “Dumbledore again!” All of a sudden, the sounds of open doors drew everyone’s attention. They turned as Neville Longbottom hopped into the Great Hall, his legs stuck together. All the other students laughed at him, even Rainbow couldn’t stifle a laugh, while Harry and the others looked stunned. “Neville?” Yona spoke. “What in Celestia happened to him?” Rarity asked. “Leg-Locker Curse?” Ron questioned. “Malfoy,” Harry frowned. “Boy, I swear that feller has serious issues,” Applejack shook her head. Neville hopped through the Great Hall before reaching the spot in the Gryffindor table where the gang sat together. “Neville, you’ve really got to start standing up to people,” Smolder advised. “How? I can barely stand at all,” Neville replied. “I’ll do the counter curse,” Seamus offered. “NO!!!” They all shouted. Right beside Seamus, Sunset Shimmer ducked below the table the moment Seamus pulled out his wand. Not far behind her, Juniper also dove under not willing to take any chances. “Sorry Seamus,” Ocellus apologized. “But the last thing Neville needs is for you to accidentally set his kneecaps on fire." “I don’t think Madame Pince would be happy if we come back to the library with scorched books,” Silverstream added. Offended by their remarks, Seamus slammed his wand down angrily. “I don’t appreciation the insinuation, girls. Besides, if anyone cares to notice, my eyebrows have completely grown back!” The boy stalks off angrily, revealing a large chunk of hair missing from the back of his head. The Student Six and their friends couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. Then, as Harry checked one of the Dumbledore cards, his eyes widen brightly. “I found him!” Hearing the news, they all lean in as Harry handed Ron the Chocolate Frog card of Dumbledore. “’Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945—‘” “Good thing we have no plans to go back that far in the series,” Pinkie Pie nodded. The group paused just to give Pinkie Pie an awkward stare, while the party pony merely smiled. “Go on,” Harry ushered Ron. “’—for his discovery of the 12 uses of Dragon Blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicholas Flamel!’.” “So that’s how Nicholas Flamel and Dumbledore are connected!” Ocellus concluded. “I knew the name sounded familiar,” Harry added. “I read it on the train that day.” “How come you never told us this before?” Gallus asked. “I didn’t know it would be important at the time.” All of a sudden, Hermione’s eyes beam with excitement. “Follow me!” Hermione spoke. Hermione makes her way down the Great Hall, with the two boys and their friends following behind. Poor Neville was still flailing around helplessly as the entire group left. “Hey, wait, where are you going?” Neville called out. “What about the counter-curse?!” Just then, Gallus quickly returned and bumped right into Neville, toppling him backward. The other students started laughing as Gallus turned his gaze toward Hedwig, who remained perched on the table. “I’m watching you missy!” Gallus warned, pointing a talon. “GALLUS!!!” The group called out. “All right, all right! I’m coming!” Gallus called out, looking down. “Sorry Neville.” Gallus quickly took off and ran out of the Great Hall. Hedwig merely looked at the griffin and stuck her tongue out at him while he wasn’t looking. Poor Neville just laid on his back upon the hard floor, moaning in pain and embarrassment. <> Moments later, in the library, Harry, Ron, and the others are already seated. They had their attention upon several books on the table when Hermione returned. The group stare with wide-eyes as Hermione carried a huge book “I had you looking in the wrong section!” Hermione spoke. “How could I be so stupid?” *CRASH!* Hermione thumped the book upon the table. The crash made the whole group jump. “Uh… Hermione?” Rainbow spoke. “How long have you had that book?” “I checked this out a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading,” Hermione replied, turning the pages. “If this is light, I hate to hear her idea of heavyreading,” Gallus snickered. Hermione briefly glared at the griffin, while Silverstream lifted a talon over Gallus face and playfully flicked him off the beak (‘Ouch!’). After a period of staring at the pages, Hermione stumbles upon a description on the page. “Of course! Here it is!” Hermione pointed, reading. “’Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone!’” “The ‘what’?” Harry and Ron asked in unison. “In the American version, they also call it the ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’,” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “Honestly, don’t you two read?” Hermione complained. “The Philosopher’s Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It will turn any metal into pure gold and produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.” “Any metal… into pure gold?” Spike and Smolder smiled. “Easy you two,” Twilight warned. “Immortal?” Ron questioned. “It means you’ll never die,” Hermione explained. “I know what it means!” “Shh!” The students hushed. “’The only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist, who last year celebrated his 665th birthday!’” Hermione read. “Whoo… it’s got to be a pretty big cake to put all those candles on there,” Pinkie noted. “Don’t you see Professor Pinkie?” Silverstream spoke. “That’s what Fluffy’s guarding on the third floor. That’s what’s under the trapdoor… “The Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone!” The students declared, in unison. The six students stared briefly at one another as half of them called the stone by its separate name. “Well, now that we have the knowledge of what’s hidden in the school,” Fluttershy spoke. “What do we do now?” “I say we pay a little visit to Hagrid tonight,” Twilight answered. “This way we can determine exactly what he knows.” <> Later, as night falls upon Hogwarts, the Equestrians and the trio made their way towards Hagrid’s hut along the edge of the Dark Forest. They knock on the door and Hagrid, who wore an apron and oven mitts, opened it from the inside. “Hagird!” Harry spoke. “Just the guy we were looking for!” Spike added. “Oh, hello,” Hagrid greeted tentatively. “Sorry, don’t wish to be rude, but I’m in no fit state to entertain today.” The big man proceeded to close the door. “We know about the Philosopher’s Stone!” The group called out. Hagrid opened the door again and judging by the expression upon his face, he knew he had been caught somehow. “Oh…” Hagrid sighed. Reluctantly, Hagrid allowed the whole group into his hut one by one. Until eventually, everyone found themselves a seat. “We know you don’t want to hear this Hagrid,” Sandbar began. “But we think Snape’s trying to steal the stone.” “Snape?” Hagrid questioned, incredulously. “Blimey, Sandbar, you’re not still on about him, are you?” “Hagrid, we know he’s after the Stone,” Harry explained. “We just don’t know why.” “Other than the fact that the stone can produce any form of metal into gold,” Smolder listed. “Actually, that’s my favorite… oh, and the immortality deal too. But other than that…” “Snape is one of the teachers protecting the Stone!” Hagrid stated. “He’s not about to steal it!” “What?” The Students spoke. “What?” Spike gasped. “Come again?” Rainbow raised a brow. “You heard,” Hagrid nodded. “Right. Come on, now, I’m a bit preoccupied today.” As they attempt to figure this out, Hagrid’s boar-hound, Fang, starts sniffing Ron. Naturally the boy felt slightly uncomfortable. “Wait a minute,” Harry interrupted. “One of the teachers?” “Well of course, that does make sense,” Twilight nodded. “And there are other things defending the Stone, aren’t there?” Hermione asked. “Spells, enchantments.” “That’s right,” Hagrid concurred. “Waste of bloody time if you ask me…” As Hagrid explained, Hermione turned toward Ron. Fang was still sniffing the boy across the face, until finally the red-haired boy shuffled away. “Ain’t no one gonna get past Fluffy,” Hagrid continued. “Hehe, not a soul knows how. Except for me and Dumbledore… I shouldn’t have told you that. I shouldn’t have told you that.” “Buddy, you really need to work on keeping things to yourself,” Gallus replied. All of a sudden, a rattling draws everyone’s attention. Hanging over the fire, a cauldron began to shake. Seeing the commotion, Hagrid hurried over to grab something from inside. “Oh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!” Whatever he had in his hands, it was hot to the touch. But eventually Hagrid carefully placed it upon the table. The group crowded around for a look and sure enough it appeared to resemble an egg. “Uh, Hagrid, what exactly is that?” Harry asked. “That?” Hagrid pointed over. “It’s a… it’s um…” Among the students, Spike and Smolder gazed upon the egg. Their eyes are wide as saucers. “No way!” Spike gasped amazed. “That can’t be what I think it is… can it?” Smolder questioned. “Why?” Rainbow asked. “What the hay even is it?” “I know what that is!” Ron said. “But Hagrid, how did you get one?” “I won it,” Hagrid replied. “Off a stranger I met at a pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact.” Before the group could question further, the egg’s rattling increased violently. Until finally, the egg began to crack open, and pieces flew off across the room. Before their very eyes, a baby dragon emerged, squeaking and slipping along an egg piece. To say that the entire team were in shock was a major understatement. “Is that…” Hermione began. “A dragon?” Hermione and Ocellus asked in unison. “That’s not just a dragon,” Ron observed. “That’s a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie worked with these in Romania.” “Isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid asked, smiling. The little dragon in questioned began to crawl his way across the table eyeing the entire group looming over it. Specifically, its eyes were drawn toward Smolder. As soon as he approached her, the little guy started cuddling up to her much to the young dragoness’ confusion. “Um—what is he doing?” She asked. “Oh bless him, look,” Hagrid smiled. “He thinks Smolder is his mummy. Hehe.” “MUMMY?!?!” Smolder’s eyes shot open. “Woah! Woah! Woah! No way! Uh-uh!” Smolder tried her best to push the little dragon off her. Unfortunately for her, the little dragon kept a tight hold on her. “Okay little dude, time to let me go now!” She said frantically. “Aw… isn’t that just the cutest thing?” Fluttershy sighed. “No!” Smolder said loudly. “I’m too young to be a mom!” “Apparently the little guy doesn’t seem to care all that much,” Gallus chuckled. Smolder sent a death glare toward to the young griffin, who turned away while retaining that smug face. The dragon continued to try and push the smaller one off of her to no avail. While all that was going on, Hagrid reached out and stroke the little dragon’s neck. “Allo, Norbert,” He greeted. Norbert squeaked as he looked at Hagrid. “Norbert?” Harry questioned. “Yeah, well, he’s got to have a name don’t he?” Hagrid replied. “Don’t you, Norbert?” Hagrid kept tickling Norbert’s neck, till the dragon backed away. All of a sudden, he hiccupped and blasted a small fireball into Hagrid’s beard. Hagrid quickly pats out the smolders in his beard before his whole face caught fire. “Well… he’ll have to be trained up a bit, of course,” Hagrid replied, patting his beard. “If this little guy is going to stick around, he’s going to need all that and more,” Twilight replied. “Baby dragons can be a bit of a hoof-full.” “… I wasn’t that difficult!” Spike pouted. “Of course not, Spike. I was just saying…” Suddenly, Hagrid spotted someone looking in the window. “Who’s that?” Hagrid pointed out. The whole group turned toward the window and saw the face of one Draco Malfoy, who scampered away. “Malfoy,” Harry muttered. “Oh, dear,” Hagrid spoke worriedly. <> Thankfully, having been able to sneak back into the school, the Golden Trio and the Equestrians made their way back toward the Gryffindor common room before they could get in any more trouble. On their way to the common room, they kept looking over their shoulders the entire time. For all they knew, anyone could come up to them at any time. “Looks like everything’s cool for now,” Smolder observed nervously. “But I still have a bad feeling about all of this.” “No kidding!” Gallus agreed. “For all we know, Mouthful could’ve told Professor Snape we were out.” “That alone makes me fear for my life,” Silverstream shook. She leaned as close to Gallus as she could, while the young griffon wrapped a wing over his girlfriend to comfort her. “Or even worse… what if he told Dumbledore?” Ocellus asked fearfully. In that moment, before the students could get any more scared, Twilight decided it was time to interject. “None of you have anything to worry about,” She reassured. “If anything happens, we’ll take the blame,” Rainbow added. “After all, we’re the ones that let y’all come out with us tah begin with,” Applejack nodded. “Still cannot believe Hagrid has dragon now,” Yona said, still amazed. “I know, right?” Sandbar nodded. “What I wonder is how he even managed to get one?” “Hagrid did say a stranger practically handed the egg to him at the pub,” Ocellus reminded. “I don’t know… something about that just feels off. Why would some random stranger conveniently have a Dragon's egg to give away?” “The better question is: Why would he even want one in the first place?” Hermione butted in. “Hagrid always wanted a dragon,” Harry explained. “He told us so the first time I met him.” “He believes them to be very fascinating,” Twilight added. “He seemed dead set on having one.” “It’s crazy!” Ron shook his head. “And worse, Malfoy knows.” “Soon as that sleaze-bag comes around, you can guarantee things won’t end well,” Gallus added. “I don’t understand,” Harry said confused. “Is that bad?” Before the group continued any further, the Student Six suddenly stopped in their tracks and looked ahead with upmost fear in their eyes. Even Smolder, who didn’t fear very much, looked like a frightened puppy. This caused everyone else to stop and look back at them in confusion. “Um—guys?” Ocellus squeaked fearfully. “What’s wrong?” Harry asked her. “I’m thinking it’s really, REALLY bad!” She pointed a shaky hoof forward and the rest of the group turned toward Professor McGonagall, in her nightgown, holding a candlestick and looking at them very sternly. “Good evening.” Then Malfoy stepped out from behind her, smiling smugly. McGonagall just stared at them all with a look of complete disappointment. It was then Twilight Sparkle decided to step up hoping to explain what was going on. “Professor McGonagall, I’m really sorry about all this. You see we were just—” Twilight’s words were cut off the moment McGonagall raised a slight hand, signaling her to be silent. Twilight quickly shut her mouth, looking down in shame before backing away slowly to rejoin the group. “All of you—my office—now!” Everyone obeyed McGonagall’s orders and followed her straight to the Transfiguration classroom. As they followed the head of Gryffindor house, complete nervousness and uncertainty rushed through them all. What was going to happen now? That was the question they most dreaded. By the time they reached the room, Professor McGonagall pointed them into the classroom. The whole room was empty except for Discord and Peeves, the latter busily writing rude words on the blackboard while Discord chuckled. The pitter-patter of footsteps drew them toward the group who entered the room and stared blankly at the mischievous pair. “Allo Minerva!” Peeves smirked, using the chalk as a toothpick. “Ya lookin’ ravishing tonight!” “Discord, Peeves, out!” The Professor barked. “Oh now she acknowledges me!” Discord muttered, turning to Fluttershy. “I’ll see you around, Flutters.” While Discord disappeared with a snap of a talon, Peeves was less subtle. He threw the chalk straight into a bin, which clanged loudly on impact, and swooped out the room cursing ‘naughty’ words. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and gestured the group onward. Soon as they all made their way to the front, McGonagall took her place at her desk and looked at them very crossly. “Now then,” She began. “Would anyone care to elaborate on what Mr. Malfoy told me about this late night visit you all paid to Hagrid? What is this I’ve been told about a dragon?” Twilight once again stepped before the rest of the group to present their case “You see Professor, we were out tonight because we—” She paused again, as she turned back toward her friends and her students. They all stared nervously, over relaying the actual truth of their visit tonight. They were already in enough trouble as it is, it was clear the group didn’t want anymore. A sigh escaped Twilight’s lips before turning back toward McGonagall. “We were just out tonight because we found out Hagrid had come into possession of a dragon egg,” Twilight lied. “He didn’t know what to do with it because he always wanted a dragon. But, at the same time, he didn’t want to break any of the rules. So we went out there tonight to convince him to turn it over just so he wouldn’t get into trouble. Before we could do anything, however, it just hatched right then and there… so we were too late.” McGonagall stared deeply into Twilight’s eyes, trying to detect the falseness in her story. She turned toward the rest of the young students, staring at them just the same. Malfoy merely scoffed as he attempted to interject. “That is untrue Professor!” Malfoy spoke up. “They all clearly knew that dragons are illegal in this world and they were clearly planning something with—” “Silence, Malfoy!” McGonagall snipped. Malfoy quickly shut up and stepped back, as the other students chuckled and grinned smugly at him. Even Spike and Smolder made faces, sticking their tongues at the boy… until McGonagall turned toward them and the other students. They quickly straightened their faces and silence returned to the room. “Is this true?” She asked. “That you all tried to convince Hagrid to give up the dragon egg?” “Yes Professor,” They answered in unison. It was a half-truth more than anything, seeing as how that wasn’t their original intentions. However, they were convincing Hagrid to turn over little Norbert to avoid trouble and that was clearly the story they were sticking with. Satisfied with the answer, McGonagall nodded her head as she stood back to her feet, though she still looked very displeased. “As honorable as your intentions might have been, nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night.” Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Student Six nodded their heads slightly as they looked down in shame. “Therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken.” This caused all the students to look up with complete shock. “50?!” Harry asked in disbelief. “Each!” McGonagall emphasized. Their mouths dropped and their eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks. Fifty points… between all of them? “But that’s four-hundred and fifty points!” Silverstream gasped. “That’ll pretty much knock Gryffindor back down to zero!” Gallus added loudly. “Perhaps you all should have thought of that a bit more before deciding to violate school rules,” McGonagall said. “And to ensure it doesn’t happen again, all ‘ten’ of you will receive detention.” Malfoy nods, till his smile vanished with great concern as he realized exactly what was just said. “Excuse me, Professor,” He spoke up. “Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said… ‘the ten of us’.” McGonagall looked down at the bleach-blonde Slytherin boy with as much disappointment as she’d given the rest. “No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy,” She responded. “You see, as honorable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will serve detention with your classmates.” Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Equestrians grinned as Draco sagged. At the very least, the tables were turned slightly in their favor. But the small victory was short lived, however, as Professor McGonagall faced them again. “Now I advise all of you to return to your dormitories immediately,” She demanded. “Extra prefects will be stationed at each of your common rooms from now on and if any of you are caught breaking school rules again, it will result in greater disciplinary actions.” The students all nod as they turned to make their way back to their common rooms. The Mane Six and Spike followed closely behind when suddenly… “Except… you six,” McGonagall spoke. The Mane Six froze, realizing McGonagall was talking about them. The Student Six, Spike, and the three Gryffindors looked back with worry. “Twilight?” Spike spoke. “Don’t worry about us, Spike,” Twilight assured. “Just get the kids back to the common room. We’ll be right behind you.” “You sure, Professor?” Silverstream asked. Twilight nodded her head and Spike nodded back. “Come on guys…” Slowly but surely, Spike and the students proceed out of the classroom to the common rooms. Twilight and the rest of her friends turned back and walked toward McGonagall’s desk. “Minerva, first off I just want to say how very sorry we all are,” Twilight apologized. “We weren’t fixin’ tah cause trouble,” Applejack added. “We were simply doing our best to help our students,” Rarity nodded. “That’s all we were doing.” McGonagall shook her head in disappointment as she looked at them, specifically Twilight. “You know Ms. Sparkle,” She began. “When Professor Dumbledore and I graciously allowed you and your friends to sign on as assistant professors, we expected you to uphold the rights and privileges that came with such responsibility. That includes ensuring the students stay out of danger, not allowing them to go gallivanting for trouble.” The Mane Six looked down in guilt as McGonagall continued on. “I cannot begin to express my upmost disappointment in all of you. The actions you make not only impact the Wizarding World, but your very own home of Equestria as well. Therefore, it is my duty as Deputy Headmistress to revoke your positions as assistant professors. Spike too.” Now every pony looked at her, much like the Student Six, in complete shock. “What?!” They all yelled. “Oh please Professor McGonagall,” Fluttershy plead tearfully. “You can’t do this! Especially to Spike! He was so excited—” McGonagall looked down at the butter-yellow Pony with a look that made her squeak and hide behind Rarity. “I think you will find that I can, Ms. Fluttershy,” McGonagall spoke. “Now as Mr. Potter’s protectors, you will remain here in the castle to watch over him and his friends. However, you will no longer be teaching classes, taking or giving house points, or any other privileges and rights of professors. You will accompany the students to detention tomorrow night and do nothing more than watch over them. Is that understood?” The girls looked as if they wanted to protest, fight back even. But what could they really do? In this world, they were representing Equestria’s good name, and they’ve already gone and mucked it up. All they could was sigh and look down in defeat. “Yes Professor McGonagall,” They all answered. They all turned to leave and began making their way out. “Oh, and Miss Sparkle?” Twilight paused, slowly turning back toward McGonagall. “You can be assured I will be writing a full report of this incident to Princess Celestia tomorrow morning.” Twilight said nothing, only nodding her head softly before turning back to follow the others back to the Gryffindor common room. As of tonight, this had officially been the worst night of this entire journey. Little did they know, nothing could compare to the events soon to transpire.