Goblins, he sprinted toward the blind dragon.

“Harry – Harry – what are you doing?” cried Hermione.

“Get up, climb up, come on –”

The dragon had not realized that it was free: Harry’s foot found the crook of its

Hind leg and he pulled himself up onto its back. The scales were hard as steel; it did not

Even seem to feel him. He stretched out an arm; Hermione hoisted herself up; Ron

Climbed on behind them, and a second later the dragon became aware that it was

Untethered.

With a roar it reared: Harry dug in his knees, clutching as tightly as he could to

The jagged scales as the wings opened, knocking the shrieking goblins aside like skittles,

And it soared into the air. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, flat on its back, scraped against the

Ceiling as it dived toward the passage opening, while the pursuing goblins hurled daggers

That glanced off its flanks.

“We’ll never get out, it’s too big!” Hermione screamed, but the dragon opened its

Mouth and belched flame again, blasting the tunnel, whose floors and ceiling cracked and

crumbled. By sheer force, the dragon clawed and fought its way through. Harry’s eyes

were shut tight against the heat and dust: Deafened by the crash of rock and the dragon’s

Roars, he could only cling to its back, expecting to be shaken off at any moment; then he

heard Hermione yelling, “Defodio!”

She was helping the dragon enlarge the passageway, carving out the ceiling as it

struggled upward toward the fresher air, away from the shrieking and clanking goblins:

Harry and Ron copied her, blasting the ceiling apart with more gouging spells. They

Passed the underground lake, and the great crawling, snarling beast seemed to sense

freedom and space ahead of it, and behind them the passage was full of the dragon’s

Thrashing, spiked tail, of great lumps of rock, gigantic fractured stalactites, and the

clanking of the goblins seemed to be growing more muffled, while ahead, the dragon’s

fire kept their progress clear –

And then at last, by the combined force of their spells and the dragon’s brute

Strength, they had blasted their way out of the passage into the marble hallway. Goblins

And wizards shrieked and ran for cover, and finally the dragon had room to stretch its

wings: Turning its horned head toward the cool outside air it could smell beyond the

Entrance, it took off, and with Harry, Ron, and Hermione still clinging to its back, it

Forced its way through the metal doors, leaving them buckled and hanging from their

Hinges, as it staggered into Diagon Alley and launched itself into the sky.

The Final Hiding Place

There was no means of steering; the dragon could not see where it was

Going, and Harry knew that if it turned sharply or rolled in midair they

Would find it impossible to cling onto its broad back. Nevertheless, as they

Climbed higher and higher, London unfurling below them like a gray-and-green

map, Harry's overwhelming feeling was of gratitude for an escape that had

seemed impossible. Crouching low over the beast's neck, he clung tight to

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 670