Chapter 55 - The Detention in the Forbidden Forest

After acquiring the philosopher stone, I did not pay any attention to the other things that the Golden trio got themselves involved in. I also stopped providing nutrient potions to Harry since his treatment was over. Currently he was of nearly the same height as his classmates and did not look like an abused child. He was not completely healed of malnutrition as it was not possible and some small problems will always remain in his body but major health problems in the future were prevented due my early and quick treatment of the malnutrition.

The next few months were quiet without anything interesting happening so I decided to concentrate more on my studies. This was the only chance I would get to read Voldemort's memories so I had to make use of it as much as I can. His knowledge in other fields was lacking but he had good knowledge on Dark arts and some arcane magic which were enlightening. I also continued to prank Quirrell continuously. It was fun to see his fear and a genuine stutter whenever I pranked his turban. Voldy most probably became mad and scolded Quirrell on those occasions.

Soon it was time for the next interesting incident involving Harry Potter. The dragon egg, smuggling dragon and forbidden forest incident. After long quiet gap since this happened only in May. The incident happened as it had in the canon without any difference. It was annoying to see no change in Harry's reckless behaviour. I don't know how he and his friends gained the courage to smuggle a dragon out of Hogwarts. They must have just informed McGonagall and she would have taken care of the dragon with the help of Dumbledore. There was no way Dumbledore was going to report his loyal half giant and get him arrested.

Stealing the baby dragon did cross my mind as this was the easiest possible way for me to acquire a dragon but when I thought about the problems I would have to face to take care of it and feed it, I decided the dragon was not worth the trouble. Creating a proper enclosure for a dragon was very hard due to their high strength and magical resistance. If I had a way to communicate with a dragon, then I would be more interested in the idea but for now it was just asking for trouble.

While smuggling the dragon out of Hogwarts, Harry, Neville, Hermione and Draco were caught outside during curfew by McGonagall. Same as in the canon. I did not like the fact that McGonagall punished them too harshly. She took only the normal penalty of 20 points from Malfoy when she saw him in the halls after curfew but her Gryffindor cubs were penalised with 50 points each. Over the points loss she also gave them detention. The detention was given to poor Neville too even though he did not do anything wrong was outside only to warn his friends. She did not even allow them to defend themselves. It looks like she was taking the frustration of her hectic job on the children. She must really consider stepping down from one of her posts.

The three Gryffindor had it rough in their house after their House found out they were responsible for the point loss. They were shunned and insulted by the whole house. There was no physical bullying involved so I did not act and let the three face their troubles on their own.

I wanted Harry to see the true face of the Gryffindor house. What the house had changed into over the years. That it was not the house of the brave. It was now the house where mob mentality was followed and where they considered the decision taken by the majority to be the right one. They were also too stubborn to change their views even if they knew it was wrong. Like it is happening now, not everyone blamed the three for losing points and some blamed McGonagall but since majority decided that they were at fault, no one had the courage to go against the majority.

What I found funny was the fact that the three of them must have earned far more points for the house than what they had lost. The troll incident alone had given them 150 points which should have negated the hate for the points lost by them. But the Gryffindors were never known for their intelligence or common sense.

Hence the days passed without anyone coming to save the three from the shunning and insults and soon it was the time for their detention. I decided to tail the group from the sky during their detention to see the action for myself.

I saw Filch taking the four children to Hagrid and then Hagrid taking them along with his dog to the forest. What I found surprising was the fact that Hagrid was not sorry for the problems his actions had caused for Harry and Hermione. He was instead all for the detention and was not speaking with them in his usual kind manner. It seemed like he was angry at them for taking away his dragon instead of being thankful that they saved him from a prison sentence in Azkaban.

From the sky, I could see another person following them from a safe distance. It was Dumbledore in his colourful robes. It seems like Dumbledore was not stupid enough to leave the safety of these students in Hagrid's hands. Even he has to consider the consequences of anything happening to the Boy-who-lived, the Malfoy Heir or the Longbottom Heir in the forest. If anything happens to any of them inside the forest, the career he has built up will be destroyed. No amount of favours or status will help him from a sentence at Azkaban.

After some time, when they saw unicorn blood, the group decided to foolishly split into two teams and go separate ways. Then same as canon, Harry meets the centaurs, Bane and Ronan first when he was in a group with Hermione and Hagrid. After that the groups are changed and Harry is teamed up with Malfoy.

Harry and Malfoy see Voldy drinking unicorn blood and when Voldy tries to attack Harry, he gets saved by the Centaur, Firenze. Firenze allows Harry to hop on his back and then takes him to Hagrid. Then Hagrid decides to cut short the detention and leads the children back to the castle. Dumbledore also leaves the group and apparates back to the castle. Merits of being the headmaster and being in control of the wards.