James asked, “Who are the small men?”
“All men are small compared to giants, silly,” Rose said. “But that’s not what it means. ‘Small man places’ means human villages.
Norberta is going around little towns and such to get to the male dragon she smells.”
“Oh,” James said, his brow furrowed. “So what’s the Sea of Light?”
Hagrid answered in a thoughtful voice, “That’s the big man place. London town itself. Most giants have never been there, and won’t ever go, not even to bring back Norberta. It’s a mythic, frightenin’ place in their lore. To them, it’s just a huge ocean of lights shining up on the nighttime clouds.”
Ralph grimaced in confusion. “But how could Norberta be smelling a male dragon from that far away?”
“Gor’,” Hagrid said, sitting up slightly in his easy chair. “We covered that two years ago in class, din’t we? Dragon pheromones are th’ strongest in th’ whole animal world, so powerful an’ deep that humans can’t even smell ‘em. Same way our ears can’t hear a dog whistle. Dragons are known t’ seek each other over hunnerts of miles, across leagues of seas. It’s ‘ow they find love and make baby dragons.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember that,” Ralph lied, scratching his head.
“But there can’t be a male dragon in London, of all places, can there?”
James’ eyes suddenly widened as a memory struck him.
“Montague Python!” he said, grabbing the arm of the couch as he sat up straight. “Deirdre told me about him on the way up to the school at the start of term! Her parents took her to see a magical traveling circus and there was a male dragon in the show. She said they’d be setting up in Diagon Alley soon enough. It must be Montague that Norberta smells.”
“Aye,” Hagrid said sadly. “Poor girl’s just missing dragonish comp’ny. She wants what any living thing wants. To love and be loved back. Why, her poor huge heart must be breakin’ from bein’ able t’ smell another dragon and not being allowed to get to ‘im.”
After a moment of ruminating silence, Rose prodded, “Go on, Ralph.”
Ralph nodded and continued, reading studiously. “They say they will all try to keep Norberta safe. But the tribe is busy with bigger worries. The human places reach out to the giant places more all the time. Unrest fills the air as men can be seen crossing boundaries never before crossed. Sometimes the men come to hunt. Sometimes to explore. Deeper and further they travel, often in their roaring metal beasts. Er, he must mean trucks and off-road vehicles, I assume,” Ralph shrugged without looking up. “Some tribes prepare for war with the men, and plan to fight to keep their place. Grawp and Prechka’s tribe will not fight against the humans, though. The king of their tribe says they will go away, find new mountains farther north, beyond the big coasts. But Grawp and Prechka don’t want to travel to new mountains.
They want to come…” Ralph’s face blanched and his eyes widened.
“They want to come here, to Hogwarts. They believe it’s the safest place. They remember their cave in the Forbidden Forest, and want to live there again.”
“They can’t be serious,” James said, surprised. “That’s, like, hundreds of miles away. There’s no such thing as giant trains or planes.
They’d get lost for sure.”
“Nah,” Hagrid said, reaching forward on his chair to poke at the hearth with the metal tip of his umbrella, flaring the coals to light again.
“Giants is dead smart with directions. Yeh know that. It’s like a sixth sense they ‘ave. Once they’ve been a place, they can always find their way back to it again. That’s th’ way they find their ways around the mountains, from cave t’ cave and peak t’ peak.”
Rose looked from Hagrid to James, her face alarmed. “But that would have them walking the whole way themselves, through loads of Muggle villages and towns, right out in the open! They’d be seen for sure!”
“It’ll never ‘appen,” Hagrid said, leaning back into his easy chair again, wrenching a long creak from its innards. “Grawpie would never take such a chance. I ‘spect he’s just missing his ol’ home here in the Forbidden Forest is all, talkin’ about it all wistful like, the way some people talk about the olden days. Giant language is tricky with concepts like the past. The real problem is poor Norberta.”
“Hold on a sec,” Ralph said, lowering the finished letter and cocking his head. “Two giants say they’re planning to waltz across hundreds of miles of Muggle land to come to Hogwarts, possibly bringing loads of Muggles following along with them out of pure amazement, and you say that’s no big deal?”
“I say it’ll never ‘appen,” Hagrid waved a ham-like hand.
“Things may be getting’ tetchy in the mountains, but we’re nowhere near that point yet. Grawpie’s smarter ‘n that.”
James grimaced and widened his eyes. “I remember Grawp pretty well myself. Lovable enormous bloke he may be, but ‘smart’ isn’t the first word that comes to mind.”
“Yer all missin’ the point,” Hagrid said with a huge sigh, staring glassily into the low fire. James glanced back at the half-giant, who hiccupped and sniffed deeply. “Poor li’l Norberta’s all alone. She needs companionship, she does. She’s not tryin’ to be bad. She’s just doin’ what nature and ‘er own dragonish heart demands of ‘er. We’ve gotta help ‘er, we do.”
“No, Hagrid,” Rose said, mustering her mother’s firm, implacable voice. “Hagrid,” she said the professor’s voice again, commanding his attention. “What are you thinking about doing?”
Hagrid blinked aside at Rose as if snapping out of a deep reverie.
“Hmm? What? Oh, nothin’. Nary a thing. I’m jus’ thinkin’ of poor Norberta.”
“That’s what we’re worried about, I think,” Ralph sighed.
“Hagrid,” James said, tilting his head at the big man. “We can’t have Norberta tramping off into London in search of a trained circus dragon. You know that, right? It’s bad enough thinking about Grawp and Prechka stomping through Muggle villages on their way to Hogwarts. A dragon sniffing around London would be completely disastrous.”
“Catastrophic,” Rose agreed meaningfully.
“But,” Hagrid protested, narrowing his eyes. James could almost see the wheels spinning inside the professor’s shaggy head. “But, she’s got needs, she does. I’m not sayin’ Grawpie and Prechka should set her loose to run rampant through th’ city looking for this performin’ dragon. But maybe there’s a better way. And then, when there was a new dragon egg, I could ‘atch it myself! Yeh three could help! It’d be jus’ like old times!” His beetle-black eyes nearly sparked with anticipation.
“No more dragon eggs!” Ralph declared, glancing rapidly from Rose to James as if for support. “I mean, right? That’s perfectly daft from every direction!”