Summary:Hermione enlists help in her quest to ensure Bolt survives the injury he sustained while saving her life.
Chapter TextHogwarts Castle, Morning November 7th
Hermione woke up with a groan as her alarm blared. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table that read 7:16. She hadn't made it back to her dorm until nearly 5am, so she'd only gotten around 2 hours of sleep.
She had half a mind to spend the day in bed, but she knew she needed to be in the great hall for breakfast in case the dragons escaping happened to be mentioned.
She also planned to head to the library soon, as she needed to see if she could find any books on healing. She knew it was her fault that the black dragon, Bolt she reminded herself, was hurt. If she'd been more careful he'd never have had to rescue her.
As she got dressed, she immediately noticed that though the healing salve had helped a lot, her ankle was still tender when she put pressure on it. She knew she couldn't go to the hospital wing, lest people get suspicious as she was supposedly in bed sick last night. Once she got dressed she made her way to the great hall for breakfast, careful not to walk with visible limp.
By the time she'd made it to the great hall her ankle was burning, but she did her best not to outwardly show any signs of pain.
The first thing she noticed was that the minister was there with a short woman who reminded Hermione of a pink toad, speaking with the headmistress at the head table. This worried her, though she was positive she wasn't seen last night. That's when the headmistress stood and began to speak.
"Before you all head off to your morning classes I'd like to make a quick announcement. "Due to an unfortunate incident the first task has been canceled." Groans filled the great hall at this as with quidditch being canceled the tournament had really been the only thing the students had to look forward to, which caused the minister to speak up.
"Do not worry. We at the ministry have the situation under control, and the Triwizard tournament will continue as planned, bigger and more exciting than ever before, with the traditional Yule ball being turned into a spring ball that will take place in between the two remaining tasks." he added reassuringly, before turning and exiting the great hall, his toad like flunky following close behind.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief. She'd known it was unlikely, but she had still been half expecting the aurors to storm in and arrest her right there in the great hall. With her stomach now settled, she allowed herself to eat a healthy breakfast of eggs and bacon, noting just how hungry she was.
Then again, she had thrown up her dinner yesterday and had spent most of the night trudging through the forest, so it made sense that she'd have an increased appetite.
Once she'd finished eating, the headmistress walked by her table and caught her eye and nodded towards the door, clearly indicating to Hermione that she wanted to speak with her privately. Hermione stood up and quickly followed the headmistress out of the great hall.
They walked to the headmistress's office in silence, and only once they had reached the office and sat down did McGonagall begin to speak.
"Ms. Granger, I see you were successful in your endeavor to free the dragons. Please do not stress about it being discovered that you were the one to free them. The ministry seems to have come to the conclusion that the dragons were accidentally released by one of the dragon handlers. I've used the incident to ban all ministry officials other than the minister from the grounds citing student safety. The ministry dispatched a small group this morning to search the surrounding countryside with orders to kill any dragon found on sight, though the dragons are likely long gone by now."
Hermione was worried about the search party, but knew it was unlikely that Bolt had made it off Hogwarts grounds with a broken wing and was likely still in the forbidden forest, so he should be safe, especially with the ministry unable to search with the Hogwarts grounds, which included the forest.
She wasn't sure why she was so concerned about the well-being of this particular dragon. She tried to tell herself it was just because he had saved her life, but she couldn't help the feeling that there was more to it.
"Judging by your silence, from the way you are favoring your right leg can I assume that things didn't go exactly according to plan last night and that there's more to this story than it seems at first glance?"
"Yes professor." Hermione reluctantly admitted, not really wanting to admit just how close she came to dying.
"I found the dragons easily enough, and I freed the first two from under the invisibility cloak without any problems, but the last one could somehow sense me and it came closer than I'd like to admit to having me as a snack."
"Well then you're quite lucky to be alive. Although you are above average in magical strength, it is still surprising that you managed to defend yourself against a fully grown dragon, but if anyone could accomplish such a feat, it would be you," McGonagall replied, impressed.
Hermione blushed at the praise, knowing she didn't deserve it as all she really did was panic and run away.
"Professor, something else happened last night, but I'm unsure if I should say as I feel you may be obligated to inform the ministry." she said hesitantly, considering whether or not to reveal the full truth about how she survived. She knew Bolt needed help but wasn't sure if the headmistress would approve of her breaking even more rules.
"I can't promise anything, but as long as it isn't something that interferes with my duties as headmistress or the safety of the students I have no interest in informing the ministry of anything." McGonagall told her, "Is that good enough?"
"I trust you professor. You see, last night when I released the last dragon from its cage, it could smell me, and I panicked. I didn't even think to use my wand, I just ran. I was terrified, and nearly certain I was going to die. It had me dead to rights and was just about to burn me alive when one of the other dragons, a smaller one called Bolt, returned and jumped in between me and the dragon that was attacking. It fought off the other dragon even though it was larger, and it even had its wing broken, all to protect me. I feel terrible, and now that dragon will likely die because I panicked and didn't think to use my wand. It's all my fault!" she said emotionally, beginning to tear up.
"No Ms. Granger, it is not your fault. It is because of you that 2 of those dragons will survive. I must say though, the behavior of this dragon is extremely unusual, though I must say that I am grateful you are alright. I'd have felt terrible if something had happened to you knowing that I had encouraged your efforts to save the dragons." McGonagall replied, clearly troubled by the fact that one of her students had nearly died in her care. The stern professor took her duties seriously and had no desire to become the next Albus Dumbledore.
"Professor, I would have gone with or without your help, and the invisibility cloak you gave me was invaluable." Hermione assured her, trying to ease the headmistress's obvious distress.
"Professor, if it isn't too much to ask, could you please write a note giving me permission to freely use the restricted section?" she continued.
The professor looked at her questioningly, "Why on earth would you need access to the restricted section?"
"I just need some books on anatomy and healing." she replied evasively, hoping to avoid awkward questions.
"I can assure you Ms. Granger that there are plenty of books on healing and human anatomy in the normal section of the library." McGonagall replied.
"Yes, there are..." she admitted and at this point deciding to just come clean, "but I don't need books on regular healing. I need books on how to heal a dragon."
McGonagall stared at her, clearly shocked by the revelation.
"You mean to tell me that you intend to go back out there, into the forest where you nearly died last night, attempt to find a fire breathing dragon, and then somehow get it to allow you close enough to heal it? How do you know it's even still in the forest?" McGonagall asked, hoping to get her favorite student to see how crazy this was.
"Of course I am," she replied defensively, "the forbidden forest is huge, covering at least 20 miles. There's no way a dragon that is unable to fly would be able to travel that distance even if it was willing to give up the cover and protection the forest provides."
"Ms. Granger," the elderly woman replied gently in an attempt to calm her down, "You have to understand how crazy this sounds. I allowed you to go last night because I assumed that you'd be safe using the invisibility cloak. I hadn't considered that it wouldn't hide your scent. I can't in good conscience allow you to go back into the forest just so you can find and heal a dragon. You have my sympathy, but you need to let this go. You should be happy with the 2 you managed to save."
"Professor, he was hurt saving my life. I'd never forgive myself if he died and I did nothing to save him."
The professor looked at her in disbelief.
"I can't allow that Ms. Granger. If I catch sneaking out into the forest again I will not hesitate to give you detention." she said sternly.
Hermione looked back at her with steely determination.
"You can expel me if you have to, but this is something I have to do. You won't change my mind." bluffed, shocking the elderly professor.
"Very well lass." McGonagall sighed, deflating in the face of Hermione's obvious determination.
"At least I can honestly say I tried to talk you out of it. Since you're this determined, and I don't want to have to expel my best and brightest student, how about this? I'm willing to let you have until Christmas break to try and find this dragon and ensure it's able to survive on its own. I'll let the other teachers that you're working on a special assignment for me, but I expect your schoolwork to be of the same quality when you get back as it is now. You'll have full access to the restricted section, but if you need ingredients for potions you'll need to order those yourself using a school owl. Just know that if the ministry finds out you're harboring an escaped magical creature, I won't be able to do anything to stop them throwing you in Azkaban. Understood?"
"Yes professor. Thank you so much." she replied with obvious relief. She may have said she was willing to be expelled, but she was mostly bluffing. Her education was still extremely important to her.
"I'll inform Madam Pomfrey of the situation and let her know to answer any questions you may have. She may not know much about dragons, but she is an expert on human healing as well as brewing potions. You may find her assistance useful."
Hermione wasn't sure about Madam Pomfrey, as she'd only visited the kind matron a few times, mostly for birth control potions. Not that she'd ever had sex of course, but they helped to keep her monthly cycle more manageable.
"Are you sure Madam Pomfrey wouldn't tell anyone when she finds out that I'm attempting to heal a dragon?"
"Not to worry Ms. Granger, Poppy can be trusted. However, if you're that worried about it I will ask for a magical vow to not reveal your intentions." McGonagall promised.
"Thank you, professor, that would be great." Hermione replied, relieved that she'd have help. Healing a dragon wouldn't be easy without help.
"One more thing before you go Ms. Granger. This dragon may have saved your life, but please do keep in mind that it is still a dragon. They are unpredictable, and as you found out last night, can be deadly. Be careful, and don't let your guard down. And please, stop by the hospital wing for a pain potion. If anyone asks how you were injured just tell them you tripped."
"Thank you professor, and I will" she assured her before leaving, stopping only to quickly get a pain potion from the hospital wing and then heading straight to the library. She had a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it in before Bolt would starve.
Forbidden Forest, November 9th
While Hermione was preparing to go back into the forest, Bolt meanwhile was running, moving as quickly as he could, which due to his injury admittedly wasn't all that fast. The pain in his left wing was excruciating as the broken bone was constantly being jostled as he ran through the dense forest, but he knew he couldn't afford to slow down. The men that he'd escaped would surely be hunting him, and he knew that if he wasn't careful they'd likely find him, especially as he could no longer rely on the ability to fly.
He hated this forest, as it seemed to have no end, and it was impossible to navigate even with his enhanced sense of smell. The things in this forest were unsettling. Not long after he'd been injured he'd encountered a spider the size of a small car, and it had made him wonder just where in the world he was. He'd taken care of the spider easily enough using his breath and had proceeded to force himself to eat it.
He shivered just thinking about what he'd done. It had tasted horrible and had been quite hairy, but he hadn't eaten since he'd left the reserve, and now that he was injured he had to eat whatever he could get his claws on. Hunting prey wasn't going to be easy without the ability to fly.
He was still shocked that he'd gotten himself heavily injured to save a human girl of all things, even if she had freed him, he reflected as his thoughts drifted to the events of last night. He may have been a human once, but that didn't mean he trusted them.
It's just that he'd been able to tell from the moment she arrived outside the cage he was in, seeming to appear out of thin air, that there was something different about this girl and when her chocolate brown eyes had met his, something deep within him that she could be trusted, she was different from the rest. He'd still been a little wary at first, but there was something about her scent that was intoxicating to him.
For a brief moment he'd almost thought she was going to touch him, and to his astonishment, he'd nearly allowed it before she'd jerked her hand back in shock.
He'd been able to tell that she was young, probably around his age, although it was hard to tell as it was dark she'd been covered head to toe in mud at the time. He'd thought she was quite pretty, though he had wondered what in the world a teenage girl was doing in the middle of a forest. Then things had gotten even stranger.
He'd watched her closely after she'd left his cage and had begun to pace around the clearing observing the other dragons. He'd briefly wondered if she was a dragon handler, but had immediately dismissed the thought as he'd never seen a dragon handler this young before.
He'd been shocked when she'd begun removing his muzzle and chains with nothing but a wave of what appeared to be a small stick that he'd watched her pull from her pocket. That's when he'd decided that maybe, just maybe, not all humans were like the ones he'd met so far.
He'd watched dumbfounded as she seemed to turn invisible right in front of him, and his cage door swung open with a squeak. He'd known she was still there, as he could still smell her, but he rightly assumed that the girl felt safer thinking that she couldn't be seen. He'd known he needed to flee while he had the chance, so after stretching his body and giving one last glance in the direction he knew the bushy haired girl to be hiding, he fled into the forest before taking to the air a safe distance away.
He'd only flown around half a kilometer when he'd heard the loud that not only pierced the stillness of the night sky, but also his soul, and though a very small part of him wanted to keep flying, he knew he had to go back for the peculiar girl who'd just saved his life. So he'd quickly turned around and made his way back in the direction he'd heard the scream come from.
Flying as fast as he was able, he'd arrived just in time to see the girl lying on the ground, with the larger dragon preparing to hit the defenseless girl with a large fireball. A possessive feeling took control of his body, and he hadn't even hesitated to throw his body in front of the blast, knowing it he could take it much more easily than the small girl, shielding her with his wings.
Even now, a half a day later, he still wasn't sure what on earth came over him that caused him to try and fight the larger dragon. All he'd known at the time was that this girl was somehow important and that she needed to be protected.
Luckily for him, the dragon hadn't seemed to think the human girl was worth fighting over, and had relented, but not before throwing him across the clearing and breaking his wing. He knew he'd likely never fly again.
Bolt was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of rushing water. Following the sound, he found a small valley surrounded by large rocks. The clearing couldn't be more than 500 meters, but what really caught his attention was the deep pool of crystal clear water, constantly fed by a beautiful cascade of water coming over a large cliffside on the other side of the clearing.
The area was truly beautiful, he thought as he walked into the clearing.
He took pleasure in exploring the scenic area, and eventually noticed a small opening in the face of the cliffside, which upon further consideration he decided to turn into his new home, at least for now.
The area would serve as a good home for him, as it was hard to access, and the large cliffside surrounded by rocks and trees provided protection from the men who were surely looking for him. He just hoped he'd be able to find enough food to survive.