[1] New Beginnings: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and the Philosopher's Stone

24: illegal pets and problem-solving

Ron turned twelve on the first of March. Hermione started studying for exams extremely early, making the rest of the first years stress even more. There were more quidditch games, some with Gryffindor playing, others without. Harry still had practice that he went to regularly. They all got even more homework, as the teachers seemed to agree with Hermione on the subject of exams; the earlier you start to study and overwork yourself, the better. Percy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all kept a close eye on Quirrell and Snape. They had started being nicer to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, telling other students to stop making fun of him, staying after class to help him organize his books. Percy had started giving the man small smiles in the hallway whenever they crossed paths. Harry started doing the same. Everything seemed normal, nothing bad had happened, Snape hadn't broken Quirrell and figured out how to get the stone.

Everything was normal. Everything was too normal, like the calm before the storm.

Almost everyone had stayed at school over the Easter holidays, following in Hermione's footsteps and studying as much as possible. The four of them were in the library, studying like everyone else and getting caught up on school work. A few hours had passed uneventfully, Percy had to be woken up by Ron once because he had dozed off, but other than that, everything was normal.

"Is that Hagrid?" Harry's voice brought Percy out of his staring contest with a book on one of the shelves.

"What is he doing in the library?" Hermione was curious now, too.

"Do you want to go talk to him?" Ron was almost half asleep, his eyebrows furrowed and his gaze slightly unfocused.

Percy gasped, getting shushed by Madam Pince, the librarian, in the process. "We could tell him about the stone and Snape!"

"Why would we do that?"

"Because if something goes wrong, he would be able to tell Dumbledore, and Dumbledore could stop Snape!"

The other three considered his proposal, and then, seeming to be decided, got up as one and put all of their things away. Once they were all packed up, the four of them started to head over to Hagrid, who was glancing around as if he wasn't supposed to be there. Once he saw the four first years approaching him, he hurriedly shoved a book he was looking at back on the shelf, trying to not let them see what he was looking at.

"Hello, Hagrid," Hermione said.

"Er, hello. What're you four doin' in here?"

"Well, "Ron started, "we were studying, but then we saw you, and we decided to say hello."

"Also, we need to talk-" Percy started.

Harry finished, "-about the Philosopher's Stone."

Hagrid's eyes widened and he shushed them frantically. "Not here! Not here! Come an' see me after you're done with dinner." They agreed and watched as Hagrid left, trying to be sneaky.

"Is it just me, or was Hagrid trying to hide something?" Hermione cocked her head, still looking curiously at the giant man. Percy turned to the bookshelf that Hagrid had hurriedly put the book on when they approached. It was painfully obvious which one he was looking at; it was upside down.

Percy pulled the book from the shelf and set it on the table. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the title read. "Hey, come look at this. This is what Hagrid was looking at when we came over." Percy opened the book to a bookmarked page about dragons.

Ron raised his eyebrow. "Hagrid was looking at how to care for a dragon? But it's illegal to own one, not to mention really dangerous. There are some wild ones in the U.K., but no one ever sees them. They're kept hidden by the Ministry."