cloudy with a Chance of freedom

chapter 34

Skull was eagerly anticipating this. He had allowed Hagrid in for one reason and one reason only... that the half-giant was made very, very well aware he was not allowed to appropriate any of the eggs for himself.

Charlie was there to make very sure of that, as was Fon who had mostly come for the Chinese Fireball to assure himself that the hatching happened successfully.</p><p>Quite a few had come to witness the hatching, most were doing so on a temporary observation deck Skull had installed that was armed with mirrors to capture the action without upsetting the dragons. Only a handful were allowed in the actual enclosure and he had to spell the basilisk cave with multiple wards to ensure there were no accidents.

"This is always so exciting!" said Newt with glee. He was so pleased that Harry Black had given him enough warning to witness this first hand. He loved hatchings.

"I know! It's such a pity the Ministry is so uptight that they won't allow even a small breeding pair of dragons to live near the school so that the student trying to become dragon tamers can get work experience! I mean most of the headaches to get this suitcase allowed were waived because of the gold and my fame, but it was still far too much red tape!" said Skull enthusiastically.

Charlie paused at that.

"You know that idea might have some real merit. A breeding pair of the smaller, more manageable dragons should be perfectly acceptable to help train dragon tamers for their future careers and I know my boss would be all for having slightly more experienced help. And it would mean Hagrid could reclaim Norberta since he wouldn't technically be owning the dragoness in question, just caring for it in between extracurricular classes," mused Charlie.

Hagrid openly perked up at that.

Skull looked at Newt and Charlie.

"Anyone else up for convincing the board to potentially let Hogwarts own a pair of breeding dragons in the name of allowing Hagrid to have his girl back?" he asked amused, eyes glinting.

Hagrid might be Dumbledore's Lightning (or the closest the man would get to one), but he was still the first friend Skull had ever made in the magical enclaves and a good friend. He was not above bribing a few people so Hagrid could have his dragon back, even if he wouldn't technically be owning one.

Skull liked to take good care of his friends.

Seeing the glee in Newt's eyes (likely at the chaos such a thing would bring...the man was a bit of a prankster) and the amusement in Charlie's (he had the twins for brothers...clearly he would have picked some form of chaos up if only by exposure) and the misty expression on Hagrid's face, Skull beamed at them all.

Then their attention was firmly on the sound of a shell cracking open.

It took every ounce of control for Skull not to scoop up the little dragonet and cuddle with it. Something he was highly entertained to note was the same for Charlie, Hagrid and Newt. Mostly Newt.

He was very glad he had the foresight to silence the viewing platforms, because he was certain there was a multitude of cameras going off and that would disturb the mothers.

Once the hatching was over with, and the extras more or less politely removed (Skull had given several tours with Fon and Camellia's help, so they couldn't claim they wanted to see one of the animals again as an excuse to linger longer) Charlie and Newt stuck around to give all of his charges a proper examination.

He busied himself by fussing over Sally the Basilisk (Salazar Slytherin was apparently really unimaginative about names) and making sure the poor thing hadn't been upset by the hatching event and the number of humans so close to her den.