The morning after the "dragon transport" was a masterclass in deception. I found Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Great Hall, their faces etched with a mixture of relief and anxious curiosity.
"Is it done?" Hermione whispered, her eyes wide. "Is Norbert... safe?"
"Perfectly," I lied, my expression a carefully crafted mask of weary success. "My contact was a professional. The crate was picked up without a hitch. Norbert is on his way to a sanctuary in the mountains where he can fly free." I used a subtle pulse of[Desire's Reflection], pushing a fleeting image into their minds: a magnificent, winged silhouette soaring against a backdrop of snowy peaks. It was enough to quell their remaining doubts.
Their gratitude was palpable. In a single, audacious move, I had transformed myself from their Slytherin rival into their secret-keeper and problem-solver. I had earned a level of trust from the Golden Trio that the original Tom Riddle could never have imagined. It was a valuable, strategic asset.
However, their own carelessness proved to be their undoing. In their relief, they had forgotten one crucial detail: the Invisibility Cloak, which they had left with me. On their way back to Gryffindor Tower after leaving me at the forest's edge, they were caught by Filch. Their late-night excursion did not go unpunished.
The news spread the next day. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Draco Malfoy (who had been caught by McGonagall while trying to spy on them) were all assigned detention. Their punishment: to accompany Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest.
I, of course, faced no repercussions. My involvement remained a perfect secret.
The incident, however, did not escape the notice of Severus Snape. He cornered me after Potions class, his black eyes burning with a cold, suspicious fire.
"An interesting coincidence, Riddle," he drawled, his voice a low, menacing hiss. "Potter and his friends get caught in a scandal involving an illegal dragon, and you, their newfound... confidant... are nowhere to be found. Your hands are remarkably clean."
"I find that keeping my hands clean is simply a matter of good planning, Professor," I replied calmly, meeting his gaze without flinching. "Perhaps if Mr. Malfoy had planned better, he wouldn't be scrubbing bedpans in the hospital wing tonight."
Snape's lip curled, but he had no proof, nothing to act upon. He was left with nothing but his simmering suspicion, which was exactly where I wanted him.
With the school's attention focused on the upcoming detention, my own clandestine project began in earnest. The ruin in the Forbidden Forest became my second secret study. Every other night, under the cover of my Disillusionment Charm, I would slip out of the castle and make the perilous journey to Norbert's new home.
Caring for a growing dragon was a formidable challenge. It was a constant drain on my time and resources. I raided the Hogwarts kitchens for buckets of chicken blood and sides of beef. I hunted Bowtruckles and Acromantula hatchlings in the forest to supplement its diet. With every meal, Norbert grew larger, stronger, and more ferocious. The stone ruin was soon filled with the scorch marks of its fiery breath and the deep gouges of its claws.
The System, however, rewarded my efforts handsomely.
//[The Dragon's Keeper] Quest Update:// Your creature [Norbert] has been successfully nurtured in a secure environment. [Norbert] has reached Level 10. [Norbert] has learned the skill: [Draconic Fire Breath (Juvenile)]. [Your [Beast Language] skill has increased due to practical application.]
He was becoming a magnificent beast, a true monster of legend. And with each passing day, my future prize became more valuable.
The night of the detention arrived. Driven by a need to check on Norbert and a morbid curiosity to witness a key historical event, I cloaked myself in invisibility and followed Hagrid and his four charges into the forest.
The forest at night was a different world, a place of ancient, whispering trees and unseen things that watched from the shadows. Hagrid, armed with his crossbow and his giant boarhound, Fang, led the terrified students deep into the woods to search for a wounded unicorn.
"See that?" Hagrid whispered, pointing to a shimmering silver puddle on the ground. "Unicorn blood. Somethin's been hurtin' 'em. Our job is to find the poor beast."
Eventually, the group split. Hagrid took Hermione and Ron, while Harry and Malfoy went with Fang. I followed Harry, a silent, invisible guardian angel. Or perhaps, a vulture circling its prey.
In a dark, mossy clearing, they found it. A dead unicorn, its white coat stained with silver blood. And hunched over it, a dark, cloaked figure, drinking from the wound on the unicorn's neck.
Malfoy screamed and fled. The cloaked figure raised its head, its face hidden in shadow, and glided towards Harry. It was Quirrell, I knew, possessed by the weakened wraith of Lord Voldemort. Harry was paralyzed by a searing pain in his scar, his path of retreat cut off.
This was the moment. The original timeline had a centaur, Firenze, gallop in to save the day. But I had learned not to rely on fate.
I remained hidden. A direct intervention was too risky, too revealing. But a subtle push... that was my specialty.
I focused my will, not on Quirrell, but on the forest itself. I used a simple, powerful application of[Voice of Command], directing it at a herd of Centaurs I knew to be nearby. I didn't give them an order. I simply projected a feeling—an overwhelming, primal sense of wrongness, of a sacred thing being desecrated.
The effect was immediate. The thundering of hooves echoed through the forest, far sooner than it should have. Firenze and his clan burst into the clearing, their bows drawn, their faces a mask of cold fury.
Quirrell hissed in frustration and melted back into the shadows, his prize denied.
Firenze calmed the frightened Harry, explaining the significance of drinking unicorn blood, and carried him back to safety.
I watched them go, a silent observer in a play I was slowly, but surely, rewriting. I had saved Harry Potter's life, ensuring Dumbledore's chosen one would live to fight another day. I had confirmed Voldemort's presence and his desperate state.
And now, I was alone in the deep, dark heart of the Forbidden Forest, the silver blood of the dead unicorn pooling at my feet. The forest was filled with shadows and secrets. But tonight, I knew, without a doubt, that the most dangerous thing in this forest was me.