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“Er, thanks, Hagrid…” Harry said as a smallish glass tank was pushed into his hands. Peering inside, he scrunched his nose up as he tried to work out what he was looking at.
“D’you like him?”
Hagrid had an anxious smile on his face that looked ready to burst into a wide grin at any moment, and Harry didn’t have the heart to disappoint him.
“Yeah, he’s… great. Really great. Isn’t he, Draco?”
“He is,” Draco nodded, bending down slightly to look into the tank with interest. “Is he a native species, Hagrid?”
“No idea. Bought him from a fella down Knockturn Alley a couple of days ago. He only had the one left, and he looked so lonely. I couldn’t leave him, and I thought you two might like him for your new place.”
“Very thoughtful of you,” Draco smiled as he straightened up again. “He’ll fit right in, don’t you worry.”
Harry was staring at the side of Draco’s head incredulously, wishing desperately that he could kick him in the shin without being seen.
Hagrid beamed, his reddened cheeks just visible through his beard. “Well, right, I’ll leave you to it. I’ve got to go and check on the Thestral herd. They’re breeding.”
“Thanks, Hagrid. We’ll let you know how… does he have a name?”
“Thought I’d let you name him,” Hagrid grinned as he opened the door to leave. “He’s yours now.”
Harry watched the door swing shut behind Hagrid and gave a heavy sigh. “Great,” he muttered, turning to Draco. “What in Merlin’s name is wrong with you?”
“Me? What do you mean?” Draco asked, looking back at Harry with wide, innocent eyes.
“Draco, I don’t even know what this thing is!” Harry exclaimed, holding the tank up to eye level and peering in again. “Do you?”
“Beyond some kind of toad? No,” Draco replied, shaking his head. “But look at him, Harry. He’s quite sweet really.”
“Oh my… have you lost your mind? You, who hated every single Care of Magical Creatures lesson we ever had at school, actually like him?”
“Oh come on, that was a long time ago. I’m much better around the creatures now,” Draco said, waving his hand. “Give me the tank. He’ll be alright in my office for the rest of the afternoon, then we can get him home and set up a nice terrarium for him.”
Harry gladly handed over the tank, giving the squat brown toad one last suspicious look. “Can’t wait.”
“Hey, Hagrid is supposed to be your friend. You should know what to expect from him by now.”
Harry groaned. “I know, I know. Somehow, though, he keeps surprising me. It wouldn’t surprise me if he got this toad from someone dodgy. We’d better make sure the lid on the terrarium is on tight, just in case.”
Draco rolled his eyes as the bell rang. “Right, I’ll see you at the end of the day. I’ve got some first years to scare now.”
“Teach, Draco. You’ve got first years to teach,” Harry replied, kissing Draco on the cheek as they headed for the door.
“Teach, scare, they’re the same thing,” Draco said, shrugging. “As long as they learn.”
Harry snorted. “See you tonight,” he said as they parted ways.
Later that day, after the last class had let out, Harry and Draco left the school and headed to their new home – a small cottage on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. The close proximity to Hogwarts had been part of the appeal, with them both having taken up teaching positions. Harry was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and Draco had followed the career path that Harry had always imagined he would and become Potions Master. They’d been teaching at the school for a couple of years before finally getting together, and it had been another year or so more before they’d felt ready to move in with one another.
They’d been in their cottage for a week now, and most of their friends had been over to see it. It was too small for a party, something which they were both glad of.
“We need to get a proper tank for him, you know,” Harry said as Draco set the small tank down on the kitchen table. “This one is too small to be permanent.”
“It’s fine, we can just enlarge this one,” Draco said, glancing at Harry over his shoulder. “That way it stays familiar to him, just bigger.”
“Are you sure?” Harry asked warily, eyeing the toad who seemed to be staring at him. “Don’t we need all the fancy equipment?”
Draco shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s been very comfortable in here. I don’t think it’s a very active species, so if we make this bigger and give him some enrichment, he’ll be fine.”
“Alright, if you insist. How do you want to do this? We can’t enlarge it with him inside,” Harry replied, still gazing at the toad with mild disgust etched on his face.
“You can hold him and I’ll enlarge the tank,” Draco said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he turned to Harry once more.
“No way. I’m not holding him,” Harry shook his head quickly. “Not until I know what he does.”
Draco rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, I’ll hold him and you can enlarge the tank.”
“I’m not sure either of us should hold him,” Harry muttered, pulling his wand out anyway.
“It’ll be fine,” Draco said, carefully lifting the lid off the tank. “He looks harmless.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Harry said wisely.
Draco shook his head and reached into the tank, gently lifting the toad out with one hand and placing him onto his free arm where he sat perfectly still. “See!”
“Yeah, yeah, just keep an eye on him,” Harry replied warily. He watched the toad for a moment before finally pointing his wand at the tank and performing the spell.
Draco looked down at the toad in his arms and smiled to himself. It was a turn up for the books, really, he thought. He wouldn’t have dreamed of handling a toad when he was a student at the school, but there was something about this particular toad that had captured his attention. It was almost calming to see him just sitting placidly in his tank, and Draco thought he could watch him all day, if given the chance.
“Alright, is that big enough, do you think?” Harry asked, stepping back from the table slightly. The tank now occupied a space that was the length of the table and almost as wide. It was three times taller than it had been originally.
“I think so,” Draco nodded. “I don’t think it even really needs to be that deep. Toads aren’t known for being able to jump particularly high, are they?”
“No, but I really don’t think this is a regular toad,” Harry replied. “I’m not taking any chances. The deeper it is, the less chance of him getting out.”
“If you say so,” Draco said. “Alright, what kind of enrichment should we give him? Do you think he’d like a cave?”
“A cave?” Harry exclaimed, looking at Draco with wide eyes. “Something he can use as a step?”
“Somewhere he can sleep,” Draco tutted. “Honestly, Harry, I really don’t think he’s anything other than a regular toad.”
“Mm, well, we’ll see,” Harry said, eyes fixed on the toad once more. “Alright, a cave, you say?”
Draco nodded, looking pleased that Harry had given in. “And some leafy plants. We’ll need to charm a weather system in the tank too, to keep things damp.”
“You can do that bit,” Harry said firmly. “I’ll sort the habitat out.”
“Fine by me,” Draco agreed. “When we go back up to the school, we’ll have to find Hagrid to see if he knows what Ichabod will eat.”
“Who?” Harry asked, blinking in surprise.
“Ichabod. That’s what I’ve decided to name him,” Draco replied, smiling down at the toad fondly. “Suits him, don’t you think?”
“Yeah…” Harry said faintly, turning back to the tank and getting to work on the habitat. “If you say so.”
“Well we can’t keep calling him ‘him’, can we?” Draco asked. “He needed a name. Unless you have something else in mind?”
“No, no. Ichabod is fine,” Harry said hastily. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Right, is this cave okay for him?”
Draco moved closer to the table and nodded. “That’s brilliant. Nice and dark, I think he’ll like that.”
“Good,” Harry said. “I’ll do the plants now. We can check with Hagrid later if there’s anything we shouldn’t put in.”
Draco nodded again. “I don’t think he’s going to be eating the plants anyway. If we stick to ferns, it should be alright.”
Harry hummed in agreement. “Good point. Well, I’ll only be able to do fake ones for now anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Oh, true. I didn’t think of that. Well, Ichabod, what do you think so far?” Draco said, holding the toad up so that he could see the tank.
“I doubt he’ll have an opinion either way,” Harry replied, shaking his head as he conjured bunches of ferns in the tank. “There, it’s all done. Are you putting him in?”
Draco rolled his eyes. “Yes, don’t worry. Here we go, Ichabod. Welcome to your new home,” he said, reaching into the tank once more and depositing the toad in front of the cave.
“Don’t forget the weather,” Harry pointed out, watching as Ichabod sat stoically in his new surroundings.
“I’m doing it now,” Draco replied, pulling out his own wand. He pointed it at the tank and performed the spells he knew would create a constant damp atmosphere within the walls. “I wonder what temperature we should go for…”
“A bit warmer than we would have for native toads, maybe?” Harry suggested. “I’m not convinced he’s a native species. He doesn’t look anything like the toad that Neville had.”
“No, now that you mention it, he doesn't, does he?” Draco mused, gazing at Ichabod for a moment before shrugging. “Oh well. I’ll just make it slightly balmy for now. We may have to visit the library when we get back to the school.”
Harry nodded. “Alright. Well, he looks quite happy… I think?”
Draco smiled as he put his wand down and replaced the lid of the tank. “There. I think he looks happy too. Should we head back to the school then? It’s almost dinner time.”
“Yes, we’d better,” Harry said, turning to look at Draco again. “Or we’ll be in trouble with Minerva again.”
“It’s still so strange calling her that, don’t you think?” Draco asked, making a face.
“A bit, yes,” Harry replied. “But we’re colleagues now. We can’t keep calling her Professor.”
“No, I suppose not,” Draco sighed. “Alright. Well, Ichabod, we won’t be too late home and we’ll bring you some food. Hopefully.”
Harry shook his head. “I wonder if he understands what we’re saying.”
“Not a clue,” Draco said with a grin. “But that won’t stop me talking to him. Come on. We’ll be late.”
Harry’s eyes widened briefly and he headed for the door again. He certainly didn’t want to be late to dinner.
Draco followed, still grinning to himself. He glanced at Ichabod over his shoulder, just catching a glimpse of him still sitting still inside his leafy new home before the door closed behind him.
Harry slept wretchedly. He was pretty sure he’d not had a night that bad since the winter Teddy did a stint in St. Mungo’s with pneumonia. More than anything, it was frustrating as all hell. He woke up at half past two, sweat sticky down his back and sheets tangled around his ankles, hot and claustrophobic and reminding him acutely of Venomous Tentacula.
There was also the pervading awareness that he was being watched.
He blinked in alarmed discombobulation, kicking away the covers with frantic lack of finesse and flipping over. Draco beside him was still and peaceful. Harry summoned his wand from the bedside table. A Revelio uncovered only silence and Lumos only the dim bedroom, filled with Harry’s discarded clothes and trinkets and Draco’s bookshelves. Everything was in the right place. He cast a disgruntled Protego and mashed his face into the pillow. The buzzing in his brain was abundantly clear; there was no way in Merlin’s Green Earth he was falling back asleep.
And so he lay like that, tossing and turning. It wasn’t until the slow break of dawn that he gave up, heaving his aching body from the suffocating mattress and onto the floor. He was so restless. He was so tired. It was only when he went to brush his teeth the following evening that he realized something had been moved; Draco’s cologne, which always sat on a proud little antique vanity in the corner, was missing.
Draco hadn’t seen it either, and he didn’t remember moving it. Also, there was the slight issue that the living room smelled overwhelmingly of sandalwood, teak, and pine.
“It probably just fell and broke,” Draco said.
“I don’t see any glass anywhere!” countered Harry, throwing his hands up. Ichibod hiccoughed from the direction of the couch.
“Maybe the house got rid of it. We don’t know the habits of the magic yet – maybe it vanishes anything it deems dangerous.” Harry had never heard anything of the sort. He crossed his arms.
From there the strange happenings only got worse. On Sunday, Harry returned from the gym to a cloud of green floo powder, the entire pot having been tipped at the foot of the mantle. On Tuesday, the mail arrived shredded. On Wednesday, they received a Howler from the post office stating that no abuse of Ministry owls was to be tolerated and that they would be receiving a hefty bill to cover the vet bills and feather-regrowth potion. Harry was horrified, but when he ran to make a care package for the injured owl, he found his owl-treat stash overturned down the toilet.
For each night inbetween, Harry woke with the niggling sensation of being watched.
Even Draco was getting paranoid, blacking out the windows and staying up past the crack of daylight doing research. He contacted the estate agent, inquiring whether there were any reports of curses on the house and scoured periodicals for similar stories. Harry, however, was already convinced of the source. The problem would be getting Draco to believe him.
Because there was an odd and constant glimmer over the lid of Ichabod’s tank, almost imperceptible, but Harry knew a powerful glamour when he saw one.
Unfortunately for Harry, it wasn’t very long before his suspicions were confirmed. Three weeks after Hagrid had proudly presented them with the toad, he and Draco had visited Pansy at home. Draco had insisted on taking Ichabod along for a change of scenery.
They’d only been there for half an hour when Pansy had given an indignant shriek and told them to get out. Harry couldn’t blame her. From the moment they stepped through the door, it was chaos. The door had slammed shut behind them without being touched, and nothing would get it to open again, then the tin in which Pansy kept her Floo powder had mysteriously toppled off the mantelpiece and smashed open, spilling the powder everywhere. To top it off, one of Pansy’s beloved scatter cushions had burst open.
So, as they walked back into their own house, Draco turned to Harry with a worried expression. “Do you really think that Ichabod could have something to do with all of this?”
“Yes. I do,” Harry replied, eyeing the toad in Draco’s arms. “I know you don’t want to believe it, but none of this stuff was happening before he arrived. It’s a bit of a coincidence, don’t you think?”
“Well, it could be,” Draco muttered, looking down at the toad too before sighing. “But you’re right. I suppose we do have to consider it, don’t we?”
Harry nodded, giving Draco a sympathetic look. “I think we do, yes. When we go back up to the school tomorrow, I think we should speak to Hagrid about him. He might be able to help.”
Draco inhaled deeply and nodded. “Alright. I think you’re right. I can’t deny it anymore.”
Harry leaned over and kissed Draco’s cheek. “I know you really like him, so hopefully this will be something we can fix easily.”
“I hope so,” Draco sighed, putting Ichabod back into his terrarium. “I’ve quite enjoyed looking after him. I thought we were doing a good job.”
“I know. Come on, let’s have an early night,” Harry said, wrapping an arm around Draco’s waist and giving him a squeeze.
Draco grinned and glanced at Harry, while simultaneously replacing the lid of the terrarium. Then they headed upstairs, neither of them noticing the pink spots that Ichabod seemed to have developed.
Harry blinked slowly, squeezing his eyes closed again as they registered the blinding white light that surrounded him.
“Harry? Harry, are you awake?”
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but only a groan escaped.
“Oh, thank Merlin. Harry, you’re in the hospital,” Draco said, his voice full of relief. “The Healers will be pleased you’ve woken up.”
Harry swallowed, opening one eye slightly. “What happened?”
“You don’t remember anything?”
Harry began to shake his head before wincing. “No. The last thing I remember was going upstairs with you.”
Draco made a face. “Well, yes. As we were… you know, getting down to it… Ichabod appeared.”
“Ichabod… no…” Harry began with a frown. “We put him back in his tank.”
“I know, I know. But he did. I don’t know how he did it, but he was in the bedroom,” Draco said, reaching over to hand Harry his glasses. “You… tried to make a grab for him – leaving me thoroughly unsatisfied, by the way – but everything happened so quickly and all of a sudden you were unconscious on the floor.”
Harry blinked in confusion. “Was it… something he did?”
“I think so. But the Healers weren’t really sure,” Draco replied. “There was no magical trace or anything, and I couldn’t find Ichabod to bring him with us.”
Harry groaned, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back against the pillow again. “Great. So what now? How long do I have to stay here for?”
“I think you’ll be allowed home now that you’re awake,” Draco replied. “I’ll go and get a Healer to come and look at you.”
Harry nodded slightly, his eyes still closed. This was a lot to get his head around.
“Hello Harry, Draco,” Hagrid said jovially when they appeared at his door two days later. “How’re you two and toad doing?”
“That’s what we’re here for, Hagrid,” Harry replied, nudging Draco slightly. They stepped into the cottage. “We’ve brought Ichabod with us.”
“Oh, for a visit? He’ll enjoy that,” Hagrid said with a smile. “Can I get you some tea?”
“No, thanks,” Harry said quickly. “We can’t stay for long. Hagrid… ”
“Something wrong, Harry?” Hagrid asked, pausing as he saw the expression on Harry’s face.
“Hagrid, as much as we loved your gift to us, we need to give Ichabod back to you,” Draco said, holding out the small travelling tank to Hagrid. “He’s… we don’t think he’s happy with us.”
“Oh, surely not,” Hagrid said, turning to look at them properly. “How could he not be happy with you two?”
“You didn’t hear that Harry spent a night in hospital, then?” Draco asked, giving Harry a sideways glance. “Or that we’ve been bringing chaos wherever we go?”
“Well, no, can’t say that I have,” Hagrid said, frowning. “What happened, Harry?”
“What happened? That bloody toad happened, Hagrid,” Harry exclaimed. “There’s something… we don’t know what it is, but there’s something not quite right with him. We think he might be better off here, with you.”
“We’ve had quite a lot of strange things happen over the last few weeks,” Draco added, putting the tank down on Hagrid’s kitchen table. “Things being broken around the house, not to mention being broken in other people’s houses or my office here. Harry ending up in the hospital was the final straw.”
“Well, of course I’ll have him here,” Hagrid said, leaning over to peer into the tank. “I’m not sure I’ve got the right set up though.”
“Don’t worry, we can bring his terrarium over later,” Harry said. “Hagrid, there was glamour over his terrarium, are you sure you don’t know who you bought him from?”
“Sorry, Harry, I don’t,” Hagrid replied with a shrug. “He did say he was an exotic species, that’s all I know.”
“Well, just be careful with him,” Harry said warily, watching as Ichabod made his way over to the side of his tank and placed one foot up on the glass.
“He’s just a little toad,” Hagrid said fondly, lifting the lid off and putting a hand into the tank to pick the toad up. “He’ll be fine here.”
Harry took a step backwards, holding onto Draco’s arm as Ichabod looked at them.
“We’re sorry Ichabod,” Draco said softly. “You’ll be happy here with Hagrid.”
Ichabod continued to gaze at them, not attempting to move from where he was sitting on Hagrid’s hand.
“Right. Well, we’d better get going,” Harry said, stepping backwards again. “We’ll bring the terrarium over after work, if that’s alright, Hagrid?”
“Of course, of course,” Hagrid replied. “Meanwhile, I’m sure he’ll be fine hopping around the house.”
“Just don’t step on him,” Draco said nervously. “He’s only small.”
“Don’t you worry, I’ll be careful,” Hagrid chuckled. “We’ll see you later.”
Harry nodded, tugging on Draco’s arm until he followed him out of Hagrid’s hut.
“Do you think we’ve done the right thing?” Draco asked, glancing over his shoulder as they headed back up to the castle.
“If we didn’t do something, one of us – probably me – would have been seriously hurt,” Harry replied. “I know I had a weird feeling about him right from the start, but I didn’t think he’d actually try and hurt one of us.”
“Sorry for not taking your worry seriously,” Draco said.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get that terrarium taken over to Hagrid tonight and then we can get back to normal,” Harry said as they climbed the steps to the main entrance of the school.
That evening, after dinner, Harry and Draco made a quick trip back home to collect Ichabod’s terrarium before carrying it carefully down to Hagrid’s hut.
Harry knocked on the door and stepped back to wait.
Hagrid opened the door a few seconds later and gazed at them for a moment. “Ah. I don’t think I’m going to need that now.”
“What do you mean? Has something happened to Ichabod?” Draco exclaimed, voice full of worry as he took a step forward.
“Oh, no, well… yes. But nothing bad,” Hagrid said. “You’d better come in.”
Harry and Draco exchanged glances but followed Hagrid inside nonetheless.
“He’s, er, gone through some changes since you left him here,” Hagrid said, glancing at them over his shoulder.
“Changes? What kind of changes?” Draco asked, putting the terrarium down on the table.
“Well, see for yourselves,” Hagrid said, stepping aside to reveal Ichabod, who was sitting on the stone floor beside the stove.
Harry gasped and grabbed Draco's arm.
Draco’s jaw dropped as he stared at Ichabod. “H-how did this happen?”
“Well, it seems like he had some kind of enchantment over him,” Hagrid replied, shrugging. “Couple of hours after you left, there was a flash and then he was this big. Must have been charmed to come off when he was happy. Turns out he’s some kind of oriental toad. Some Muggles see them and get a bit spooked, but most other Muggles don’t believe them. It’s only magical folk who get to see the real toads. ”
“So he was never truly happy with us?” Draco asked, sounding disappointed.
“Oh, of course he was,” Hagrid said quickly. “You two looked after him really well, but he just needed more space and freedom. He can have that here, so he showed his true self.”
“Wow,” Draco said softly. “Ichabod you look different.”
Ichabod just gazed at them.
“We knew you’d be happy here,” Harry said, looking at the toad. “I just wish you hadn’t put me in the hospital to let us know you weren’t happy with us.”
Ichabod continued to gaze at them.
Harry looked at Draco. “I honestly don’t know why you liked him so much.”
Draco nudged Harry and shook his head. “I liked his character. He really does look happy here though, doesn’t he?”
Harry nodded. “He does. Thanks, Hagrid.”
“Don’t be silly,” Hagrid said with a smile. “You’re welcome to visit him any time you want.”
“I think you’ll probably see Draco more than me,” Harry admitted. “But that’s very kind of you.”
Draco rolled his eyes but smiled. “I’ll come and visit him next week. I’m glad he’s happy.”
“Come on then,” Harry said. “We’d better get home. I’ve got a ton of marking to do.”
Draco sighed. “Oh, don’t remind me, so do I. See you tomorrow, Hagrid.”
“G’night,” Hagrid replied, waving a hand in their direction.
Harry and Draco left Hagrid and Ichabod and began the short walk home, trying to make sense of the whole situation.