Without breaking her stride, she left behind those words for Dumbledore to ponder whether they were true or false.
The next night, the Mirror of Erised had already been removed, and Harry suffered nightmares that evening.
Ron agreed with Dumbledore's advice, recognizing that the mirror had indeed brought a negative influence upon Harry, and so Harry completely gave up his search for it.
Vespera headed to the Restricted Section as usual to carry out her reading schedule.
Mrs. Norris was an expert at catching students wandering about after hours, which was why she was rewarded with dried fish every night.
After Christmas, Vespera and the others rarely ran into each other, as they hardly shared any classes anyway.
Instead, she frequently encountered Nott in the library, though he never spoke to her. He would always sit at the seat to her left and read quietly.
"Pela, have you ever seen a dragon?"
At the eight-person study table, three slightly excited Gryffindors suddenly appeared opposite Vespera.
From time to time, Ron cast wary glances at Nott beside them to prevent him from eavesdropping on their conversation. Thus, Miss Quinlan thoughtfully cast a Confundus Charm.
"I've never seen a live one, though I've seen plenty in books." She turned the pages at an even pace, acting as though she had no interest in what they were saying.
Hermione reached out to grab her wrist, her voice dropping as she suppressed her excitement: "This time it's real! Do you want to come see it with us?"
Ron's face was equally filled with anticipation.
Looking up, Vespera saw three little kittens staring at her like a feather wand. "...Fine, let's go take a look."
"Brilliant!" the kittens cheered. "Ten o'clock tonight, at Hagrid's hut." The kittens hurried off in a flurry.
Ron—that little kitten—Weasley even tripped over his own feet and took a fall, while the other two quickly grabbed him and hauled him away before Madam Pince could arrive.
Nott remained as quiet as ever, absorbed in his reading, though Vespera noticed that he lingered far too long on page 297.
Hagrid's hut was situated in the northwest of the castle, not far from the Forbidden Forest.
The interior was warm, but quite messy.
A roaring fire blazed in the hearth, roasting a pitch-black egg within, which Hagrid claimed was a dragon's egg.
"Crack."
The clumsy giant reached out and pulled the egg out directly, and the moment he placed it on the table, it hatched.
A Norwegian Ridgeback.
It had a jet-black body, spiny wings, no spikes on its tail, bumpy horns on its head, and orange-red eyes. "Cough, sss," it sounded like a heavy smoker.
Smoke billowed from its mouth before it spat out a burst of flame.
"Whoa!" Hagrid's beard was singed, but the giant didn't mind at all and even praised the creature.
Harry and the others marvelled as they touched the tiny fire-breathing dragon. "Has he got a name?"
"Norbert, his name is Norbert."
"There's no need to—" Vespera was interrupted, then continued, "You ought to send him away. This doesn't comply with school rules."
A name was an unspeakable bond; Hagrid would never be willing to part with it now. Vespera knew this all too well.
"I want to keep him. He'll be very good, I..."
Vespera said no more. She never tried to persuade stubborn people, for she was one herself. "I've seen the dragon, so I'll be heading back first."
A week later, Norbert was growing far too quickly. Hagrid could no longer control him, and the small hut was practically being torn apart by the beast. In the end, they decided to send Norbert away.
The contact person was Ron's older brother, Charlie Weasley. The handover would take place at the Astronomy Tower.
As one of the witnesses to Norbert's birth, Vespera was naturally roped into discussing the operation plan.
However, she stated that she had said from the beginning the dragon should be sent away, so she would take no part in the operation and left early.
As she stepped outside, a flash of gold caught Vespera's eye. She paused to watch for a moment, then, after some ten seconds, walked away as if nothing had happened.
Hagrid and the three students were immersed in the sorrow of parting with Norbert until the sound of a shattering clay pot echoed from outside the window.
"It's Malfoy! He's definitely going to squeal. I saw his glaring blonde hair."
"Let's move."
"Norbert, you must be a good boy and listen to Hagrid."
Just as they were leaving, Vespera ran into Draco rushing down the corridor at a full sprint. "Ow, that hurt."
He collided squarely with the copy of *Unfogging the Future* Vespera was holding; judging by the sound, it had been a hard hit.
"You..." Draco clutched his forehead, but upon seeing who it was, he stammered, "Wretched... wretched Ravenclaw. What are you carrying such thick books for?!"
"You were running too fast and not watching where you were going." Vespera glanced at the scratch visible between his fingers—red, but the skin wasn't broken.
Reminded by her, Draco remembered his urgent mission. Dropping a toothless threat, he prepared to dash off again: "I haven't time to argue with a bookworm like you."
"Who are you off to find? Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape?"
Draco spun around, so furious that even his hair gel couldn't hold his hair down. "You did see me! You tipped them off! Wretched! Wretched!"
"I didn't. Calm down. If you run down this corridor for a bit now, you'll run right into Professor McGonagall."
"You'd better be telling the truth. If you're lying, I'll—" His brow furrowed into a knot, unable to come up with what he would do if she were lying.
"It's the truth."
"It had better be." Having wasted a fair bit of time, he scrambled off again in a flurry to make his report.
Only halfway there, he spun back with wide eyes, grabbed Vespera by the sleeve, and snarled, "Don't you think you can sneak off to tell, you wretch. You almost tricked me."
Just as Draco wished, he ran straight into Professor McGonagall, pouring out a torrent of accusations.
When Professor McGonagall cast an inquiring look at Vespera, Draco glared over too, like a puppy guarding its food.
Vespera calmly nodded.
At the castle doors, Harry and the trio were caught red-handed by Professor McGonagall.
Draco stood smugly behind the professor like a rooster that had just crowed—ignoring the frantic way he had used his wizard's robe to wipe away his sweat just before appearing.
"This is the first time I've ever encountered five—five students out of bed!"
"Professor McGonagall, they've got a dragon! They're going up to the Astronomy Tower to set it free!" Draco declared.
Professor Snape materialized from somewhere nearby, standing beside Vespera, his expression toward Harry dripping with utter disdain.
Under Professor McGonagall's sharp gaze, the three Gryffindors could offer no defense. "Gryffindor will lose fifty points for your actions."
"Fifty points each."
She had originally intended to brush the dragon matter aside lightly, but Draco kept chattering on like a broken record, and Professor Snape was standing right there watching.
With no other choice, the group made their way to the Astronomy Tower.
The dragon was gone, but they intercepted Hagrid carrying an empty crate. Draco opened his mouth to speak again. "Quiet, Mr. Malfoy," snapped Snape, thoroughly exasperated.
Harry and the other two shot triumphant looks at him.
Professor Snape thought Draco was far too naive, nothing like his father, which was why he let himself get played like a fool.
"Mr. Malfoy, Slytherin will lose twenty points for your unauthorized night wandering."
Things having reached this point, Vespera prepared to quietly slip away like a ghost, but—"Ah, Miss Quinlan. I should think that at one in the morning you ought not to be wandering the corridors either. You shall join me—"
Detention in his office.
"Ravenclaw will lose ten points. All five of you will serve detention with Filch." Professor McGonagall cut short Snape's attempt at child labor, eliciting a disgruntled "Hmph!" from the overgrown bat.