"That...that's the bloody dragon?" Richard didn't seem to notice that he'd spilled his scotch all over himself when the black monster with bronze colored spikes coming from seemingly every spot on its body appeared above the Pensieve. He could see that in comparison to the handlers putting it in position, the dragon must have been at least forty feet in length. A jet of flames poured from his snout as it roared its displeasure. The other handlers quickly sent freezing charms to cover their comrades as they got the giant chain in place and secured. "You...you fought that thing too?" Richard was glancing between Harry and the Pensieve.
"I only had to get past it...and get that egg," Harry indicated a golden egg sitting atop the pile of eggs that could be seen almost directly between the dragon's legs.
"How did you do it?" Jean asked. Her voice filled with equal amounts of fear and amazement.
"Wait and you'll see," Hermione replied. Unfortunately they'd not discovered a rune that made memories fast forward so they had to stare at the memory for another five minutes while the dragon handlers finished getting the Horntail in position. Finally the commentator made the announcement that Harry would be next and then a whistle blew.
The memory moved to look at the entrance to the stadium. For a few seconds there was nothing, and then a black-haired boy, Harry, appeared. The memory Harry stared for several seconds at the dragon and then raised his wand and yelled something that could not be heard. The dragon's roar could be heard though as well as the sound of its claws gouging deep marks in the stone. The Grangers were watching in anticipation but nothing happened for several long seconds. Finally memory Harry looked in a different direction as a broom came whistling out of nowhere and stopped beside him.
For the next few minutes, Jean and Richard Granger could only stare at the scene in front of them as Harry, riding a broomstick weaved and dodged around the dragon and its flames while the whole time memory Hermione was murmuring 'He's going to die, He's going to die, He's going to die...'
When finally memory Harry turned and dove under the Dragon and snatched the egg, Jean and Richard could only, once again, stare at the young man who was blushing under their gaze.
"But that was fo...I mean last year," Hermione said after several moments of silence. "Other things, darker things happened then."
"What kind of things?" Jean asked and truly wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Voldemort, Death Eaters," Hermione shrugged, "But let's go in order instead of bouncing around. In our second year, as we told you last night, we had a Basilisk running around the castle."
"That's the giant snake that kills by looking at you?" Jean verified.
"Yes," Hermione replied.
"I need to get a rag," Richard said as he realized he was wearing his scotch now.
"Dobby will take care of that," The elf said as he popped in next to Mr. Granger. Before Richard could say or do anything, his clothes were cleaned and dried and his glass was refilled.
"Thanks Dobby," Harry said as he gave the elf a smile.
"Dobby is always glad to help Mistress Hermione's parents," Dobby said and disappeared.
"He's a helpful little fellow," Richard said.
"So...you said Hermione was turned to stone or something?" Jean asked. "Can we see that?"
"If you want to," Harry replied and pulled another memory from his head. "This," He said, "is Hermione petrified," He let the silvery strands drop into the basin and then activated it.
Another gasp escaped both of the Grangers as they saw their daughter lying in an obvious hospital bed with her arms outstretched, staring back at them with glassy open eyes.
"She was like that for about three weeks," Harry said quietly as he remembered those weeks.
"Harry tried to wake me up by kissing me," Hermione said as she remembered what Harry had confessed to Miranda. "Like in the fairy tales."
"It all does seem a bit more of a...a horror story to me," Jean replied as she continued to look at her daughter's petrified image.
"And what were you doing when Hermione was like that?" Richard asked Harry accusingly as he pointed at the image above the Pensieve.
"He was trying to figure out who the Heir of Slytherin was and about the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione retorted to her father. "He even went into the Forbidden Forest and was attacked by giant spiders."
"Giant spiders?"
"Acromantulas," Hermione explained. "Want to show them Aragog?"
Harry shrugged as he pulled another memory from his head and put it in the pensieve.
The memory was of a forest, but everything was upside down. It was obvious that Harry was being jostled, but then he turned his neck and Jean and Richard could see he was being carried, upside down, in the grip of two very large and hairy legs that were themselves attached to an extremely large spider.
"EEEK!" Jean shrieked and jumped from her seat.
"Mum doesn't like spiders," Hermione explained.
"Is the whole magical world filled with monsters?" Richard asked as he set his glass down and took his wife's hand and pulled her back down to the sofa.
"They exist in the non-magical world too, you just can't see them," Hermione explained with a shrug.
"You mean those things are everywhere?" Jean asked as she nervously looked around expecting an Acromantula to pounce.
"No...not acromantulas," Hermione replied. "As far as I know they are not native to Great Britain and they only exist in the Forbidden Forest here."
By now the scene of the memory had changed to view over a vast hollow. Every available space was covered by spiders the size of horses. As the spider carrying Harry moved down the slope toward a huge domed web in its center, the other spiders moved closer. Soon the memory Harry was dropped roughly onto the ground. Next to him fell Ron and a large dog that Harry identified as Fang to the Grangers. Ron's face was frozen in fear as his mouth was wide open and his eyes almost popping out of his head.
"Aragog!" The spider who had been carrying Harry called. "Aragog!"
....
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