LUCY:

In the weeks that followed, my life revolved around little Norbert the dragon. Harry and Ron and Hermione visited Hagrid's hut when they could, but everyone knew and accepted the fact that I was his favorite. I would often babysit Norbert while Hagrid attended to his gamekeeper duties, careful to feed him every half an hour and make sure he didn't burn anything down. (I had mastered the flame-freezing charm by the time he hatched. I wasn't taking any chances.)

A week after Norbert hatched, I consulted the others in the common room late one night, after nearly everyone else had gone to bed.

"Norbert's getting big," I whispered. "He's probably tripled in size since he was born. He can barely fit across my shoulders anymore. We need to get rid of him before he gets much bigger, Hagrid won't be able to keep him a secret much longer."

"Malfoy could go to Dumbledore any day," Harry agreed.

"Have you mentioned any of this to Hagrid?" Hermione asked.

I shook my head. "I don't want to mention it until we have a solid plan. He's grown quite attached to Norbert."

"He's grown quite attached?" Ron scoffed. "Lucy, every time we see you, you've got a new burn mark you forgot to cover up, which just makes us wonder how many more you're hiding."

I blushed. "Norbert can't help it, he doesn't know how to control his fire yet." All three of them stared at me, eyebrows raised. My blush intensified. "Okay, maybe I've grown attached too. But I know that we need to get Norbert out of here sooner than later. The only problem is, without a mother dragon to look after him, he'd die in the wild, and if he gets caught by humans, he'd be killed on the spot." I sighed. "I convinced Professor Kettleburn to take me to the magical creatures reserve yesterday, claiming that my dad was curious about the hippogriff habitats, but I don't think Norbert would be able to stay there. He's too friendly."

"I can't believe you just described a dragon as friendly," Hermione said, shaking her head, "but you have a point. Norbert needs to leave Hogwarts, because he could always be traced back to Hagrid."

"Charlie!" Harry exclaimed.

Ron rolled his eyes. "You're as mad as Lucy, I'm Ron."

"No, not you. Charlie, your brother. In Romania? Charlie could take care of Norbert until he's ready to go into the wild!"

"Brilliant idea, Harry!" Overwhelming relief poured through me. "Charlie would take good care of Norbert. Now we just need to ask Hagrid into letting us send him an owl."

I broached the topic sensitively the next day when Hagrid was somewhat distracted. Norbert had begun to eat dead rats, and Hagrid made it something of a game for him, tossing rats in a unique game of fetch. I held the crate as Hagrid tossed the carcasses, and we both beamed with pride as Norbert caught a particularly fat rat with a satisfying crunch.

"Say, Hagrid, don't you think Norbert is getting a little large for your hut?" I asked.

"He's a growin' boy!" he agreed heartily. "Nothin' I can't handle."

I bit my lip. "I know you can handle him, Hagrid, but, er, well... what about next week? What about when he gets even bigger?"

"I'll make it work! Good boy, Norbert!"

"Hagrid, you know I love Norbert as much as you do, but I, erm... I think we need to start talking about releasing him. For his own good, before he gets too much bigger."

He froze, rat in hand. "But Lucy, he's too little. He'd die."

"I know, and we don't need to release him right away, I'm just saying, well, eventually, we'll need to release him and we should have a plan." I paused. "Well, I talked to the others, and we do have a plan. We just agreed to talk to you first."

"What's yer plan?" His hesitation was obvious.

"Ron's brother Charlie works on a dragon sanctuary in Romania. If you agree, well, we were thinking we could send Charlie an owl asking him to take Norbert to the sanctuary until he's big enough to be released."

He didn't reply. Norbert snapped angrily at the rat in Hagrid's hand, nearly taking a couple of Hagrid's fingers with it. I smiled, tossing Norbert another rat as Hagrid thought about my proposal.

"Alrigh'," he relented. "Yeh can send Charlie a letter. I'm just... sad ter see 'im go."

"I will be too, Hagrid. Trust me. But it's for his own good, don't you agree?"

He nodded solemnly, reaching into the crate for the final rat. Norbert caught it with a snap, chewing happily before gulping it down. I reached forward to pet his head, and he nuzzled his face against my abdomen. "Good boy," I chuckled.

That night, I helped Ron write the letter to Charlie while Hermione and Harry took a shift at Hagrid's hut. Once they returned, we sent the letter off with Hedwig and anxiously waited for a response.

"Skye sure wants the Quidditch Cup," Fred remarked as we headed up to the common room a week later.

"I wonder why that is," I retorted.

"Yeah, it couldn't possibly be because she's a seventh-year," George said, pretending to be deep in thought. "Maybe she just likes the color gold?"

"That must be the reason," I agreed. "What do you think, Harry?"

"I think she wants a physical container for all of our blood, sweat, and tears from practice." He ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "I think even Oliver is feeling a little overwhelmed."

"I feel like my arms are going to fall off," Fred moaned, dramatically swinging them around. "Sometimes I feel that I'm too tired to even make mischief."

"That's a lie and you know it," I laughed. "For what it's worth, I don't remember the last time I was able to sit in a chair without still feeling like I have the broom glued between my legs. It wouldn't surprise me if I just carried it up to the common room with me one of these days and didn't even notice."

We were nearly to the castle when we passed Ron heading the opposite direction.

"Wotcher, Ronniekins!" Fred called. "Where are you headed?"

"Hagrid's," he replied.

"Ooh! Can I come with you?" I asked. I paused. "Well, maybe after I shower."

"Sure! See you in a bit, then?"

"More than a bit," George teased, nudging me with his elbow. "A couple hours, more likely, after that practice. I reckon she smells more like a lion cub than a girl at this point."

"Oh, shove off," I said, punching his shoulder and ducking out of the way of his attempt to put me in a headlock. "At least you know I can smell like a girl. You and Fred always smell like this. I think the sweat actually helps you two smell better, believe it or not."

Harry laughed. "She's got a point, you know." When Fred lunged forward, trying to wrestle Harry into a headlock as well, we darted forward and sprinted all the way to the common room, leaving the twins in our dust. We burst through the portrait hole and began giggling uncontrollably.

"Being smaller than them has its benefits for once," I panted. "Normally I just have to outwit them. Good to know I can outrun them, too."

"Good thing they're faster on brooms than on foot," Harry added. They tumbled into the portrait room then, wicked grins lighting their faces when they saw us.

"Good luck, Harry!" I said quickly, turning to dart up my staircase as they pursued Harry up theirs. I reached my dormitory out of breath and sweaty, but smiling. Parvati and Lavender were giggling over a magazine when I stumbled in.

"What happened to you?" Lavender asked, her face torn between disgust and concern.

I laughed. "Don't mess with the Weasley twins. I had to run away from them all the way up here."

They simultaneously sucked in a sympathetic breath.

"Don't worry, I'm going to go shower now," I said, laughing again when their faces gave way to relief. I grabbed a clean set of robes and disappeared into the bathroom.

The cool water felt fantastic after such a hard practice. They had all been hard practices lately, really; Fred was right in saying Skye really wanted the Quidditch Cup.

When I wasn't playing Chaser, I was playing Seeker alongside Harry, in an attempt to simulate the competition that would exist in a real match. I say attempt for a reason; I had never once beaten Harry to the Snitch. His broom was simply too fast, and his eyes too keen. I had been getting better with time, but Harry's abilities were truly incredible.

I showered quickly, despite how good it felt, and slipped out of the common room down to Hagrid's hut. I knocked, but it wasn't Hagrid who asked, "Who is it?"

"Lucy," I called back. "Ron, is that you?"

"Oh, thank Merlin," he sighed as he opened the door, crate of rat carcasses tucked beneath his arm. "I can't do this by myself."

"Good thing your brothers chased me all the way to the common room, then" I joked. I froze when I saw the bloody cloth he had wrapped around his hand. "Ron, what happened?"

"He bit me. I told Hagrid I could handle feeding him but when I held out the rat, he bit my finger too."

I winced. "I'm so sorry, Ron, I thought Hagrid would have told you to throw the rat. I'll finish, you can head to the Hospital Wing."

"No, it's fine," he said, though he did pass me the crate. "I told Hagrid I'd stay here until he got back."

"Where did he go?" I tossed a rat to Norbert, and he caught it with a snap.

"He said a group of students tried to sneak into the Forbidden Forest or something, and one of them got separated from the rest of the group so they confessed."

"You would have thought that my experience would have discouraged people from going in there voluntarily," I grumbled. "I'd be perfectly content with never going there again. Well, unless I had Norbert to protect me, huh, Norbert?"

"He does a good job of protecting you from people who actually pose no threat, so I'm sure he'd protect you in the Forbidden Forest, too. Why does he like you so much, anyway? I mean, well, you're you, so it's not that I expected him to not like you, but, well... you know?"

I laughed. "I understand what you mean. Well, to tell you the truth, I talked to the egg a fair amount, so I suppose he recognizes my voice. My dad told me once that talking to dragon eggs will make the dragons less aggressive toward humans when they hatch, so I figured it was worth a shot."

"It seems to have worked. Though I do wish he hadn't bitten my finger just for trying to feed him."

"He didn't mean to. I brought my wand, I can try a healing charm as soon as this crate's empty."

"He's surprisingly nimble," Ron remarked as Norbert launched himself at a rat I had thrown a little too high. "I don't remember Charlie ever talking about how graceful dragons could be, except for when they're flying, of course. Normally he complains that they're clumsy."

"It's probably part of living in a house rather than the wild. He's had to be careful all his life so far. Once he's out in the open, I'm sure he'll become as clumsy as his untamed counterparts." I sighed. "I just hope I'll see him again someday. And that he remembers me."

"He won't forget his favorite, I'm sure."

I smiled as I tossed the last of the rats. I settled on the couch, motioning for Ron to join me. Norbert took this as a personal invitation and crawled up beside me, but I rolled my eyes and nudged him off. "Not you, silly." He grunted, smoke puffing from his nostrils, and curled around my feet instead. Ron eyed the dragon apprehensively before sitting next to me.

"It's like a cat with scales," he whispered. "I know why you don't want him in the wild yet."

"Yeah. Anyway, let's see that hand." I unwound the cloth gently and wrestled my wand out of my pocket, trying not to disturb Norbert too much. "Bloody hell, Ron, doesn't that hurt?"

He shrugged. "Well, yeah, but it's okay. I don't want to go to the Hospital Wing and risk exposing Hagrid, especially since we have a plan for getting rid of Norbert now and it's only a matter of time."

"If you're sure," I said slowly. "For now... episkey!"

"Ow! Oh, well, that feels better."

I cocked my head. "Wait, what happened?"

"It got really hot, then really cold, but now it feels better. See? The cut closed. Thanks, Lucy."

"No problem! I'm glad it worked. That's interesting, though, because I've never felt that. My body heals differently, though, I've learned."

"Oh, how so?"

"I'm allergic to dittany," I explained with a shrug. "Norbert, you can't just go around and bite the hands that feed you," I scolded the dragon. "That's not a good way to make friends."

Ron laughed, hesitantly reaching down to pat the dragon's head. "No harm no foul, mate."

"He's really not so bad, is he?"

"No, he's not. But, er, don't tell Hermione I said that. I think she's afraid of him."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm mad not to be," I admitted.

"No, you're not mad. I think you just choose to see the best in him rather than the worst. Hermione sees the potential to burn this whole hut down, but you see, well, this. You see a dragon that curls up like a cat around your feet and sleeps on a blanket you crocheted for him."

I scrunched my nose. "I could be crocheting 24 hours a day and still not keep up. It's over there. He outgrew it officially three days ago, but I haven't had the time to try to make it long enough again."

"I'm sure he appreciates it regardless," Ron chuckled. "Studying with Hermione every spare moment is awful; I was glad you had Quidditch practice so I could get away."

"You can come with me whenever you want, Ron, I wouldn't mind. I know what you mean about Hermione, though. Her dedication is admirable, but I definitely prefer studying in the Quidditch stands, myself." I yawned, and rested my head back against the couch. "But this is nice. Norbert has been the perfect distraction."

At the mention of his name, the dragon climbed onto our laps, stretching out so that he draped across the whole sofa. I laughed. "Do you want me to tell him to get off?"

"It's alright," Ron said, yawning as well and also leaning his head back against the sofa. "I wasn't planning on going anywhere anyway."

I don't know who fell asleep first, but I woke with my head on Ron's shoulder and Ron's head resting on top of mine to the sound of the front door banging open and Norbert lighting the cushion on fire with a frightened snort. Thankfully, my wand was still in my hand, so I shot off a quick "Aguamenti!" before the flames could spread. Norbert slunk off of our laps and greeted Hagrid with a happy snort, slithering between his legs and clamping his teeth around Hagrid's boot.

"Thanks fer takin' care of 'im," Hagrid said, sounding as tired as we felt.

"Did you find the student who got lost in the forest?" I asked anxiously.

"I did. Found him kinda near where you were, actually."

I gulped. "Was he okay?"

"He will be. He's in the Hospital Wing now. Yeh should head up to bed now, yer both half-asleep."

"I have the Invisibility Cloak, Lucy, we can both fit under it."

"Good thinking, Ron," I said as he threw it on top of us. "Good night, Hagrid! Bye, Norbert!"

We made our way up to the common room as quickly as we dared. Harry and Hermione were the only ones there, and they seemed significantly relieved to see us.

"What happened? Where were you?" Hermione asked.

"Hagrid got delayed," Ron explained.

"What happened to your hand?" was her next question.

"He bit me, but Lucy was able to close it up."

"I'm glad you two are back," Harry said. "Now let's go to be-" He was interrupted by a tapping at the window. "Hedwig! She'll have Charlie's reply!"

He let her in, and we crowded around the note.

Dear Ron,
   How are you? Thanks for the letter! I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine wo are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.
   Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.
   Send me an answer as soon as possible.
      Love,
         Charlie

I rubbed the back of my neck as we exchanged a glance. Harry had the first idea. "We've got the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult. I think the cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."

"But who will go?" Hermione asked.

"It's my brother," Ron replied.

"Well, it doesn't sound like he'll actually be there," I said softly as I reread the letter, "but you can definitely go if you want."

"Do you want to go, Lucy?" Harry offered. "I know you're his favorite."

"It's okay," I stammered. "I-I don't know if I have the heart to send him off. But I could stay with Hagrid and keep him company after you take Norbert, possibly, and help, ah, destroy the evidence Norbert was ever there."

"Alright, so Lucy's definitely going down with me." Harry sighed. "We have until Saturday to figure it out, though. For now, let's go to bed."

I yawned. "Great idea. I'm sure glad Astronomy was cancelled tonight. I feel as if I can't keep my eyes open a second longer."

Though my healing spell had helped initially with Ron's hand, it appeared that Norbert's fangs were poisonous, and I didn't know of any healing spells that could help mitigate the effects of poison. I felt awful, afraid I had made things worse, but Hermione and Harry assured me that it wasn't the case and that it wasn't my fault. We rushed to visit him in the Hospital Wing as soon as flying lessons for the day ended.

He gestured for us to bend down closer to him, so we did as he spoke in a whisper. "It's not just my hand, although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me. I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me! I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this!" I grew red in the face, knowing I was the reason he had hit Malfoy. He faltered. "Lucy, that's not what I meant, I-"

"It's alright," I said. "What's important now is that you feel better as soon as possible and it stays secret."

"Besides," Hermione added, "it'll all be over at midnight on Saturday."

Ron sat bolt upright. "Midnight on Saturday! Oh no, oh no, I've just remembered, Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert!"

We exchanged a nervous glance, but before we could reply, Madam Pomfrey shooed us away, saying Ron needed rest. As soon as we were out of the Wing, Harry muttered to us, "It's too late to change the plan now. Hermione, you'll have to come with us. We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

Hermione and I nodded our agreement, making our way to the Great Hall for dinner. I assumed my typical seat between Fred and George, my stomach feeling slightly unsettled from the guilt and nerves plaguing me. They didn't seem to notice this, however, and immediately launched into a discussion about a new product from Zonko's.

"Hey, wait a second," George said suddenly, "where's Ron?"

"In the Hospital Wing," I answered. "He was bitten by a... dog. I think."

Harry and Hermione nodded their violent agreement.

Fred pursed his lips. "Well, that's not good. Reckon we should send him a toilet seat to cheer him up?"

"No!" Percy exclaimed, having taken sudden interest in the conversation. "That would be completely unsanitary!"

"I'm sure he'd appreciate it," George chuckled. "Lighten up, Perce!"

"I'll go cheer him up myself," he said, scowling as he rose from the table, "before you two besmirch the atmosphere with your foul presence."

"He's sleeping right now, Percy," I said, giggling, "but I'm sure you can visit him tomorrow. And um," I added, "I agree with Percy on this one, the toilet seat seems a bit far."

"I guess we'll just send it to Ginny instead," Fred sighed.

Percy looked so torn between anger and amusement it seemed he would burst, but the rest of us burst into laughter.

Saturday night seemed come too slowly and altogether too quickly at the same time. Hermione and I snuck out from our dormitory at the appointed time, meeting Harry in the common room. I was sandwiched in between them as we crawled through the portrait hole. We had nearly made it outside when I heard an all-too-familiar noise. Peeves was playing tennis in the one hallway separating us from the outside world. Harry glanced at me as if to ask what in Merlin's name we were supposed to do. I shook my head, and he seemed to understand that my gesture meant that we just had to wait.

As soon as he was done, we walked as quickly as we dared down to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. Once we were safely inside, we shed the cloak.

"We're already running a little late," Hermione said as I knelt down in front of the crate.

"I know," I replied, pressing my hand to the front of the crate. Norbert touched his nose to it, and for a second, I thought I might cry. I didn't, however, and rose to my feet. "Bye, Norbert. I'll come find you again one day, I promise."

"We'll come back to get you as soon as we can, Lucy," Harry said.

I shook my head. "Not worth the risk. Just go back to the common room. I'll meet you there."

Hermione didn't like the sound of that. "But how will you get there without getting caught?"

"I can sleepwalk, remember?" I managed a small smile. "Be safe, you two, and don't get caught." I grabbed the cloak and tossed it over them. "Now go!"

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey! An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely." Hagrid sounded near tears. "Bye-bye, Norbert! Mommy will never forget you!"

With that, Hermione and Harry and Norbert stepped into the night. I reached for Hagrid's hand, laying my small one over his massive one. "It's okay, Hagrid, don't cry! Why don't you come sit down?" I guided him to the couch. I was about to offer to make him tea when he began to sob. I instead searched frantically for a handkerchief. I found a napkin next to his sink and figured it was close enough. He accepted it gratefully and blew his nose so hard it honked. I wedged myself in what little space remained on the couch and ran my hand up and down his arm.

"Hey, Hagrid, I have an idea. Would you like to go with me to find Norbert one day?"

"What d' yeh mean, Lucy?"

"Well, once I graduate, maybe the two of us could go out into the wild and find him. Do you like the sound of that?"

He sniffled, bringing the napkin to his eyes. "I do. Les do that."

I smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

I rose to my feet and drew my wand from my pocket, using various charms to clean what blood and brandy I could from the floor and my hands to clean everything else. Hagrid busied himself with helping get rid of the leftover brandy, and he croaked something about fertilizer as he dumped chicken blood in the pumpkin patch. I balled Norbert's blanket up and shrunk it to get it into my pocket. When I went looking for Norbert one day, I wanted to have it with me, in case he recognized it. Part of me wondered if the next few years would bring even more scars, ones that might make me unrecognizable otherwise.

I left Hagrid's around 1 in the morning, having cleaned up as best I could and promising to come back tomorrow to return Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit to the library. The thought of tomorrow made me equal parts giddy and mournful. The weight of Norbert's safety would be lifted from my shoulders, but with that came the absence of Norbert. That little dragon had made me so very happy; I didn't want to go back to studying by myself in Quidditch stands.

I was incredibly careful sneaking back up to the castle, clinging to shadows and constantly checking over my shoulders for any ghosts or portraits that wanted to talk. I knew I didn't look like much of a sleepwalker, but tonight of all nights, the last thing I wanted was to be caught. It was now very late; all I wanted was my nice, warm bed and to be able to cry for Norbert until I fell asleep. I was pleasantly surprised and incredibly relieved when I made it to the common room without seeing anything or anyone out of the ordinary, but these feelings were short-lived. Neither Harry nor Hermione were anywhere to be seen.

I reluctantly settled onto the couch, eyes glued to the clock. My anxiety increased with each second that passed. Where were they?

My question was answered at 1:17 when the portrait hole lurched open. I jumped to my feet and ran over.

"Oh, thank Merlin, there you a-"

They weren't alone. Neville climbed through the portrait hole behind them.

"What happened?" I gasped, looking at their pale faces. But no one could answer me. Neville burst into tears and ran up to his dormitory. Hermione looked as if she wanted to do the same. A sudden realization hit me. "Where's the Invisibility Cloak?"

"At the top of the astronomy tower," Harry said. There was a pain and a fear and a brokenness in both his and Hermione's eyes that made my heart ache for them. I wanted to reach forward. I wanted to fix it, whatever had happened, but I knew I couldn't.

Instead, I took a deep breath. "You don't have to tell me what happened, but whatever it is, I know it'll be okay."

"We just lost Gryffindor the House Cup," Harry whispered. "And probably Neville's friendship. But Norbert's safe."

"And Malfoy got detention too," Hermione added with a weak smile that instantly vanished. "But that's the end of our good news."

"Do you want to talk about it? Or would you rather sleep?"

Harry sighed shakily. "We'll tell you and Ron at the same time. I... I don't have the heart to talk about it more than once."

"Okay. Good night, Harry."

"Good night," he replied, heading the same way Neville had. It turned to Hermione, whose eyes were now brimming with tears. I reached forward and hugged her; she hugged back with such force I wondered for half a second if she could possibly break my ribs anew. But she didn't, and I held her for a long time as she sobbed into my shoulder. I gathered bits and pieces of the story, though it was quite difficult to discern half of what she said. Malfoy had known about their plan and alerted Filch. Neville had somehow known, too, and tried to warn them, but had gotten caught instead. Her tears eventually dried, and we headed up to our own dormitory. Lavender and Parvati had never known we were gone. I climbed into bed like Hermione, but my night wasn't quite over yet. I waited until she was sound asleep, then crawled from bed one more time that night.

I crept up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, finding Fred and George's room by the light of my wand. Casting silencing charms left and right, I tiptoed over to George's chest and dug the Marauder's Map out.

My hands trembled violently as I descended the stairs and studied the map. Professor McGonagall was in Professor Dumbledore's office, which was fortunate because his office was in the West Tower whereas the Astronomy Tower was on the east side of campus. Filch was lurking around the kitchens, and a small dot reading "Jenna Gordon" made clear why he was there. I managed a smirk. I hoped Filch caught her red-handed. Peeves was nowhere to be seen, but the coast was clear as far as I could see. I tucked the lit end of my wand into the thickest fabric of my robes and pressed the map to my chest, then crawled through the portrait hole and began the journey to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak.

I got lucky a second time that night. I felt somewhat guilty; it seemed all of the luck for the evening had been allotted to me, leaving none for my friends. I made it to the Astronomy Tower without seeing a single soul. I raced to the cloak on the ground and threw it over myself. I extinguished my wand and shoved the map into my pockets, and was about to make the journey back when I heard a pair of voices. I retreated to the darkest corner of the room and held my breath.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore entered the room. Professor McGonagall sighed.

"You were right. Nothing's here. But that just baffles me all the more."

"I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for this unusual behavior," Professor Dumbledore said.

"I don't understand how you're so calm about all of this. Four students out of bed in one night, while we have the Philosopher's Stone in the castle! And for what, a dragon story?"

Professor Dumbledore's eyes landed on me. For a second, I was terrified that I hadn't actually put the cloak on and he could actually see me. Which was ridiculous, of course, but the intensity of his gaze shook me to my core.

He turned back to Professor McGonagall as they left the room.

"Minerva," he said, "I'm quite sure there is more to this than meets the eye."