With detention over, Charlie said goodbye to the others and returned to the Hufflepuff common room, carrying Rudy in his arms.
Warm light bathed the yellow-toned decorations. A few upper-year students sat in the corner, still discussing their Charms homework.
Charlie headed straight for his dorm.
He opened the door quietly, Ernie and Justin were already asleep.
Tiptoeing into the bathroom, Charlie gave Rudy a quick bath, dried him off, and placed the little creature on his bed.
The curious little guy scanned his new surroundings, his beady black eyes darting about.
When his gaze landed on the brass desk lamp beside Charlie's bed, his eyes lit up instantly.
"Don't even think about it." Charlie pressed Rudy's head down firmly.
"Let's set some ground rules."
Rudy tilted his little head and put on an innocent face.
Charlie sat on the edge of his bed, tone dead serious.
"First: no stealing. Second: no breaking things. Third: you can only pick up shiny stuff that's on the ground and clearly unwanted."
Rudy blinked, feigning ignorance.
Charlie's face darkened, and his voice grew ominous.
"If I catch you stealing... I'll confiscate everything you took and lock you in a dark room, no shiny things. At all."
Rudy shuddered at the thought.
Just imagining a pitch-black room devoid of glittering treasures made him wilt and nod in dismay.
"Now that's more like it."
"Go play with Storm for a bit." Charlie pointed to the owl perched on the windowsill.
Rudy hopped off the bed, bouncing toward the window.
Storm was preening her feathers, and upon hearing the commotion, lifted her head.
One massive owl. One tiny Niffler.
Rudy looked up at Storm's hulking form and swallowed nervously. Play? With that?
Storm glanced down at him and gave a low, disinterested "hoo." A greeting, perhaps.
Then she went right back to grooming, unimpressed with her new roommate.
Charlie finished washing up and quickly fell asleep.
Rudy sneaked a glance at Charlie to make sure he was out cold before silently hopping off the windowsill.
Storm widened her eyes, watching Rudy tiptoe toward the door. But she didn't stop him, she had a date in the owlery tonight. Plenty of lady owls were waiting. Babysitting wasn't on the agenda.
Rudy slipped out and scurried down the corridor.
The Hufflepuff dormitories were sprawling. Soon, he arrived at another room's door.
He squeezed through the gap and entered.
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a glow on the floor. Something glittered, immediately catching Rudy's eye.
A silver fork lay on the ground, its prongs still sticky with cake crumbs, clearly dropped by a late-night snacker.
Rudy's eyes lit up.
It was on the floor! That meant it was fair game!
He squeaked softly, so softly that only a trained ear could've heard it.
"Anyone want this? No? Okay, mine now."
Only steady snoring answered him.
Rudy waited a few seconds, then pounced and stashed the fork in his magical pouch.
See? Totally legal. Found property!
Encouraged, he searched the rest of the room. Under one bed, he found a glowing crystal ball. In a corner, a small mirror…
All fair game. All on the floor.
He worked through the night. By the time he snuck back to Charlie's room, his pouch was stuffed to bursting.
Early the next morning…
"My fork's gone!"
"Where's my crystal ball?!"
"Bloody hell, someone stole my underwear!"
The ruckus in the common room jolted Charlie awake.
He groggily opened his eyes. Rudy was curled up next to him, sound asleep. Storm slumped on the windowsill, looking just as drained.
Ernie and Justin had been woken too. The three of them pulled on their robes and stepped outside.
Chaos.
The common room was in an uproar. Over a dozen students were shouting.
"My silver spoon's missing!"
"And my hair clip!"
"Who would stoop this low?!"
Charlie's heart sank. He had a terrible feeling about this.
He dashed back into his dorm, grabbed the sleeping Rudy by the leg, and pulled him into the air.
Rudy blinked awake, bleary-eyed.
Charlie shook him.
"Talk! What did you do last night?!"
"Chii chii chii!" Rudy squeaked frantically, shaking his head in protest.
Charlie didn't buy it. He shook harder.
Clatter clatter clatter, a mountain of items spilled out of Rudy's pouch.
A silver fork, a crystal ball, a pair of women's underwear…
Charlie stared at the loot, jaw clenched.
"Seriously? I told you not to steal!"
Rudy flailed his tiny paws, pointing at the floor and back to the loot.
Message clear: I didn't steal! It was on the ground!
"Fine, but what about the underwear, huh?!"
Rudy nervously pointed at the sequins sewn into the fabric.
Charlie was speechless.
Thankfully, none of it seemed particularly valuable. He bagged everything and planned to burn it all later, destroy the evidence.
But one thing was clear: Rudy absolutely couldn't be allowed to roam the castle freely.
That little magpie-brain just couldn't resist shiny things. A few rules weren't going to fix that.
Charlie grabbed Rudy, dragged out his undetectable extension trunk, and popped it open.
"From now on, you live in here."
He gestured toward the pitch-dark space within.
There was gold in there. Plenty of it. Rudy would be more than satisfied.
The trunk was enchanted to respond only to Charlie, Rudy couldn't open it himself.
Rudy clung to Charlie's sleeve, shaking his head wildly.
Nooo! Not the black box!
"Not your call."
Charlie stuffed Rudy inside and slammed the lid.
Inside, Rudy banged on the walls and cursed, furious that Charlie had betrayed him.
You terrible human, I'll never forgive you!
But then he saw it.
Mountains of gold. Glimmering piles of treasure. More than he could've ever dreamed.
His eyes sparkled.
Forget forgiveness. This man is my goddamn father.
A few days passed.
Rudy was now fully settled in his new home. He never even came out when Charlie opened the trunk to feed him.
He just lounged atop a gold brick, living his best life.
One weekend morning, Charlie was eating breakfast in the Great Hall when Harry came running over, out of breath.
"Charlie!" he whispered, eyes wide. "Hagrid's about to give birth!"
"…What?"
"I mean, Hagrid's dragon egg is hatching!"
"He wants us there now!"
Charlie's eyes lit up. He quickly finished breakfast and followed Harry.
The four of them, Charlie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, rushed across the grounds to Hagrid's hut.
The half-giant greeted them with a grin that could've outshone the sun.
"Come on in! Quick!"
He rubbed his massive hands together, barely containing his excitement.
"It's almost time!"
Inside, the dragon egg sat at the center of the table. A large crack had already formed. The insides looked dark and shadowy.
Then, crack. A sharp sound split the air.
The egg trembled, the crack widened.
"It's hatching! It's hatching!" Hagrid nearly leapt into the air.
With a final snap, the shell burst open.
A wrinkled, charcoal-colored creature crawled out.
Charlie squinted.
Yikes. That's ugly.
Were it not for the jagged wings on its back, it looked more like a mutant lizard than a dragon.
Its black skin was shriveled, its neck long and sinewy, its head narrow and pointed.
Honestly? Kind of abstract.
Charlie instinctively compared it to his own Animagus form, a majestic Eastern Fireball Dragon.
Yeah, his was definitely cooler.
"Oh, look at it! So beautiful!" Hagrid's eyes glistened with tears.
He reached out to stroke the baby dragon.
"Careful, Hagrid!" Hermione warned.
The baby dragon snapped its jaws open and bit down on Hagrid's finger.
Hermione turned pale.
Hagrid, on the other hand, beamed even wider.
"Haha! It's accepted me as its mum!"
Clearly, a newborn dragon's bite was no match for half-giant skin.
After a while, the baby let go, realizing it couldn't break the skin.
"Isn't he just precious?" Hagrid cooed, stroking the dragon's head.
The dragon growled softly.
Hermione had the creeping suspicion it was calculating a better angle for its next bite.
Just as the group continued observing the newborn, Charlie caught a shadow flitting past the window.
Someone… was watching them?
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35 Advanced Chapters on p(a)treon
p(a)treon.com/Aaltairr
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters
• TL/N •
Hello guys Fanfic recommendation!
Check out my other work:
> Naruto: Mind Control
If you like smart and strong MC, this fanfic is for you.
It's Peak.
Give it a chance and you won't be disappointed