The weeks after Christmas were the most joyous and lucrative since Ron's arrival at Hogwarts. Coming back from vacation with their trunks filled with Christmas gifts and pockets fat with galleons, it didn't take long before the former broke down and the latter came to him. Now, Ron was filling more orders than ever, and for the oddest of things.
Quidditch posters, enchanted statues, a sixth year even commissioned something he was 90% sure was a sex toy. Still, if their sickles were silver, Ron would accept it. Pumping out a dozen orders a week; he was making money hand over fist. Moreover, under his newly tripled workload, he'd discovered a new function of the Room. Time acceleration!
In retrospect, he didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner. Time magic was well established in the wizarding world with time-turners and an entire room dedicated to it in the Department of Mysteries. It made sense that the Founders, the most brilliant witches and wizards of their time, had dabbled in it. And it was quite sophisticated too.
While Time Magic put a burden on the Room, it could handle up to three times speed without problems. Anything higher would cause the transfigurations to fail or otherwise disrupt the Room's other functions. But three times was more than enough, tripling his moneymaking speed.
Unfortunately, all good things came to an end, and by February, his orders started falling, and by April, he was back to a Galleon every other week. Still, with over 3000 Points to fall back on, his confidence to acquire the stone had skyrocketed.
Moreover, he hadn't spent all his time on work. Along the way, he'd found birthday gifts for Blaise, Hermione and Neville as well as celebrating his own birthday.
His skills had also shot forward, the weakest now at White LV4, and many at LV5. Charms were further ahead at LV6, with Levitation at Green LV5 and Mending at Green LV6. Recording had also reached Green, as had two other crucial charms for the heist, but he'd left them all at LV2. He'd also discovered that after getting seven skills to LV4, his other categories had advanced from low White to White, accelerating her learning speed.
Spells aside, his Broom Flying had reached Green LV6, and his Wizard's Chess, his greatest skill, was now at the peak of Blue LV9.
Now, Ron had made all preparations but one and was waiting for an opportunity to try for the stone. An opportunity that was soon arriving. Stopping by the library one April morning, he saw Hermione frantically flipping through a book titled 'How to Train Your Dragon' by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.
"Planning on raising a dragon under your bed?"
"I'm not!" She cried shrilly; snapping her book closed with a start. Once she saw it was Ron, she relaxed. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Dear Merlin, why are you so jumpy?" Ron questioned.
Hermione pursed her lips, looking around furtively.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"I've kept loads from you since beginning of term, haven't I?"
She grimaced, but still acknowledged it. Then, she lowered her voice to a whisper.
"Hagrid's got a dragon egg… he's keeping it in his hut."
"Really?" Ron feigned shock. "But isn't his hut made of wood? What's he thinking?"
"Mhmm." She nodded nervously. "Harry, Neville and I have been trying to persuade him, but he's too excited."
"Hermione… dragons are no joke. My brother Charlie's told me stories about half-grown ones ravaging villages and burning down forests. You need to send it to a dragon reserve."
She fell silent. He could see her debating internally between Hagrid's happiness and the safety of Hogwarts. Finally, her gaze steeled over.
"Fine… can you help me send an owl to your brother? I'll figure out a way to get Hagrid to agree."
"Of course." Ron said. "It's a shame really. I've always wanted to see a dragon hatch. Charlie says it's magnificent."
Hermione nodded, before they both turned to their books, silently enjoying each other's company. The next few days passed quickly, until one day, after leaving Charms, he ran into Hermione, Neville, and Harry, rushing out to the grounds.
"Where are you lot going in such a hurry?" Ron asked.
"We're going to see Hagrid's dr-mmph!" Neville started, before Harry covered his mouth.
"We're off to see Hagrid." Harry said firmly.
It was clear that Weasley or not, he wouldn't trust a Slytherin.
"Oh, knock it off Harry, Ron already knows." Hermione interjected. "He's already owled his brother to help deal with the dragon."
Harry frowned, glaring deep into Ron's eyes like he was trying to do Legillimency. Finally, he acquiesced, allowing him to follow as they headed down to Hagrid's hut. Bursting through the door, they soon saw him, stoking the fireplace as overtop it sat an egg on a kettle.
"You're just in time!" Hagrid said excitedly, before frowning at Ron.
"I invited him." Hermione explained. "His brother works with dragons and he really wanted to see.
"Well, I s'pose it wouldn't be right ter rob another dragon fan of seein' this. Just shut the door."
They quickly did, before gathering around the flickering fire to watch in awe as the egg shuddered and bounced. Neville went pale and looked queasy. Spiderweb cracks begun forming on the shell, until finally, the egg split in two. Out popped the baby dragon, wings twice the size of its skinny body with a long snout, stubby horns and bulging, orange eyes.
Looking at the runty little thing, he could hardly believe she would become a giant 50-foot monstrosity that could level counties. With a sneeze, she sent up sparks that nearly lit the floor ablaze.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid muttered, as the dragon snapped at his fingers, "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!"
"She." Ron corrected.
"How d'you know that?" Hagrid asked.
"The scales 'round the cloaca are different. Plus, Charlie said males are usually docile while females…" Ron quickly yanked back his hand as she tried biting him. "Are feisty little devils."
Hagrid's eyes shone, while Hermione huffed proudly, feeling the dragon was more pleasant to her eyes. But then Harry noticed a little white face, pressed up against the window.
"Malfoy!"
All eyes snapped to the window, but by the time they'd gotten up, Malfoy had already broken into a sprint down the grounds. The Gryffindor trio all grimaced, then, Harry rounded on Ron.
"Did you lure him here, trying to get us into trouble? I knew we shouldn't have trusted you."
"Because Malfoy's just my best buddy, isn't he?" Ron quipped back.
"You're both Slytherins, aren't you?"
"Calm down, Harry. We already thought Malfoy might have heard us in the Great Hall." Hermione interjected. "Besides Ron had no idea we were coming here until a few minutes ago."
These words knocked the fire out of Harry's eyes, as he shot Ron one last glare before looking worriedly out the window.
"Hagrid, we need to get rid of the dragon. Just set it free in the Forbidden Forest." Harry urged.
"No! She's so small, just look at 'er. Aragog'll eat 'er for breakfast."
"Who's Aragog?" Hermione asked.
"Err, nobody."
Hermione frowned, opening her mouth with more questions, but a yelp from Neville stopped her mid-speak. Turning towards him, the saw that the blond boy had collapsed to the floor, frantically scooting away as Norberta took her first steps towards him. Ron rushed over to help him up, while Hagrid scooped the dragon into his arms, cuddling it gently. It sneezed again, sending sparks showering into his beard.
"Just look at 'er… cute as an angel. Even Malfoy wouldn't dare ter report 'er."
Ron didn't respond instead scouring his beard to prevent from catching fire and siphoning away Norberta's ultra-flammable saliva into a vial. Hermione gave Hagrid a sympathetic look.
"Hagrid, you know she can't stay here. Ron and I were talking… and we think it's best she goes off to a dragon reserve. Somewhere she'll have loads of room to be with other dragons. Ron's brother Charlie works at one, and we already sent him an owl…"
Hagrid looked crestfallen, looking between the dragon and his hut, then down at them.
"Alright, fine. But can I keep 'er at least until Charlie gets back ter you?"
Hermione nodded, and Hagrid broke into a smile.
"You hear that little fella, you'll be staying with mummy fer a while! S'pose I'll have to name ya… how's about we call you Norbert… no, Norberta."
Hagrid begun excitedly playing with Norberta, as if he'd fully forgotten the rest of them existed. They all looked at each other darkly, knowing it would be no easy task to get Hagrid to give her up.
"How long until Charlie gets back to you?" Hermione asked.
"Should be a day or two."
"Once he does, get back to us and we'll come up with a plan." She said.
"No, we'll come up with a plan." Harry interjected. "You just keep an eye on Malfoy when we do it."
"And what if he tries something?" Ron asked. "You haven't got a portable Floo handy, have you?"
Harry frowned. Fortunately, Hermione was helpful as ever.
"The twins got a pair of two-way mirrors from the Christmas crackers. They keep pretending they're ordinary mirrors, but I've seen them communicating through them before. We can ask to borrow them for a day."
"Perfect. Just send me a mirror, and I'll tell you everything." Ron remarked.
Then, he departed from Hagrid's hut with a grin. Everything was going just as planned.