Harry Potter and the Mark of the Dragon
A Harry Potter Fanfic
By Anarathrien Black
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. Too bad. I don't own any of the characters here except for Fira and Crossbow. Same disclaimer goes to all the other chapters…
Chapter 1: Fira
It all started on the first day of terms. Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger met on Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station. They would be starting their 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When they met there, they started sharing about their summer. Harry had, as he had been having so since Sirius Black came back, enjoyed his summer. The Dursleys had made sure that Harry was happy and well, in fear that his godfather, who was a convicted murderer, might come to them if he caught wind of any bad news from Harry. Harry, in turn, had still done his fill of the chores so that it wouldn't be obvious that he was enjoying his summer too much. Hermione had spent her summer in France, and for Ron, the summer had signaled the start of renovation on the Burrow.
"Your house is being renovated, Weasley?" came a cold voice. It was Draco Malfoy. He had overheard the 3 talking. "Are you sure that's wise? If I had only known this during the summer, I'd be quite surprised you've still got the means to get supplies and go to school at all!" Ron gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Damn you, Dragon-boy," he said. His ears were turning as red as his hair, and Harry and Hermione knew that that was not a good sign. "Oh, don't worry, Weasel," Malfoy drawled on, "I'm sure that by the time your house, if you can call it that, is done, your parents'll have a job ready for you, coz you won't have enough to put you and your scrawny little hydramoeba of a sister through school!" Harry grabbed the back of Ron's cloak to stop him from attacking Malfoy, whose Prefect pin glistened in the sun as he laughed out loud. "Leave-him-alone- Ron," Harry said as he struggled to keep Ron at bay. "Whassamatter, Potter?" Malfoy said. "Afraid poow wittow Weaswey might bweak a wittow naiw?" Harry and Ron exchanged glances. "All right, let's get him," Harry said plainly and he and Ron launched themselves at Malfoy. Surprisingly, Hermione blocked their way. "HERMIONE!" Harry and Ron said in unison. "Are you 2 NUTS?" Hermione said. "As much as I don't like to admit it, he's a prefect! You don't attack prefects!" Ron wanted to say "Oh yes, we do!", but thought better of it and shut up instead. "That's right, Potty," Malfoy said, "I'm a prefect, and I can take as much points off Gryffindor for no reason at all as I want. You're lucky term hasn't officially started. That would have cost you 30 points each!" Laughing all the way, Malfoy left. "Of all the times to stop us, Hermione," Ron said. "I could be wringing his neck in my hands now, that bloody ferret!" "Yes," Hermione said, "and you would have gotten into trouble at Hogwarts for it as well." "She's got a point there, Ron," Harry said. Ron sighed heavily. "Well, prefect or not," Ron said, "I'm going to bash his head in someday, and you"- at this point, he turned to Hermione-"Won't be there to stop me." Hermione just shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said. "Right now, we should get on board. Forget about him, Ron. If you want to get back at him, let me catch him doing something stupid. I am Gryffindor prefect, after all." With that, Hermione entered the Hogwarts Express. Rolling his eyes, Ron followed Hermione, followed by Harry.
5 minutes into their journey, someone came up to their compartment. Harry gaped. There in the doorway stood a girl with a frame that should have been reserved for a cello. Her brown hair was cut in layers that came down to her shoulders. The Hogwarts Uniform hugged her body frame, which did wonders. But what mesmerized Harry, were her icy blue-green eyes. They seemed to be holding so much cheerfulness. "Sorry," the girl said. "D'you mind? Everywhere else is full." "Not at all," Hermione said, smiling and scooting over in her seat to make space for the girl. "Thanks," the girl said as she sat down beside Hermione. "I'm Fira, by the way. Fira Black." "Hello, Fira," Hermione said. "I'm Hermione Granger. That's Ron Weasley, and-" "Holy cricket!" Fira said when she spotted Harry. "You're Harry Potter!" "Uh, yes," Harry said, lost for words, "How did you recognize me?" "You're in the updated version of Hogwarts, A History," Fira explained. Ron and Harry exchanged a glance and then looked at Hermione. "So," Hermione said, ignoring the stares of Ron and Harry, "you're a transferee, I presume?" "Yes," Fira said, "starting my 6th year. I used to study at Beauxbatons, actually, but my father's cousin, who lives in Hogsmeade, wanted me to be closer to him, so I moved back to England from France." "What were you doing in France?" Ron asked. "Oh, well," Fira said, "I knew you'd ask. My French aunt and uncle were kind enough to take me in after a…relatively dangerous incident at Black Manor in Hogsmeade when I was 11. My father's cousin brought me over to France, but he keeps in touch." "What house do you think you'll be in?" Hermione asked. "Um," Fira said, "based on what I read in Hogwarts, A History, I expect to end up in Slytherin." "Slytherin?" Harry said. "But you're too nice to be in Slytherin. You ought to be in Gryffindor." Ron thought he caught Fira turning pink. "Thanks," she said.
Right at that moment, the box window behind Ron slid open. Draco Malfoy peered into their compartment. "Well, well," he said, "if it isn't the Dork Convention, come to Hogwarts." "Oh leave us alone, Malfoy," Hermione said. "Why, Mudblood?" Malfoy said. "Is my overwhelmingly handsome face too much for you to take?" At this, Harry and Ron started to gag and cough. Malfoy scowled at them. Then he turned to Fira. "Hello," he said, a sudden change in tone and mood noticeable. "I don't believe we've met." "We haven't…" Fira said uneasily. Malfoy disappeared for a moment and reappeared a few seconds later at the doorway of Harry's friends' compartment. He quickly (and rather violently) sat himself down beside Fira, as if he'd always been welcome in that compartment. He held out his hand to Fira. "I'm Malfoy," he said, smirking, "Draco Malfoy. And you are…" "Black," Fira said. "Fira Black." She gave her hand to Malfoy who, instead of shaking it, kissed it. Ron started to cough, Hermione bit her lip and Harry snorted. "Since when were you the courteous gentleman, Malfoy?" Harry said. "Don't mind them," Malfoy said to Fira, ignoring Harry's snide remark. "I couldn't help but overhear that you expect to be in Slytherin?" "Yes," Fira said. "You're a Malfoy, you said? Aren't you the son of Lucius Malfoy? The biggest supporter of You-Know-Who? Hell, isn't your father a Death Eater?" "Yes, well," Malfoy said, "We've turned around now." "Good for you," Fira said uninterested. Her eyes fell on the Slytherin badge on Malfoy's cloak. "Slytherin, huh?" she said, her face lighting up a bit. "Figures. All Malfoys got into Slytherin." "So…you know about my family?" Malfoy said, as if he were so interested at hearing how so like a nerd the new girl was. "Yes," Fira said, "After I read that Harry Potter was at Hogwarts, I had a bad feeling that Voldemort"-here Hermione, Ron and (would you believe) Malfoy cringed-"Was going to come so I read up on him looking for a way to protect myself. I learned about your family through that…Hey, aren't you supposed to be initiated as a Death Eater this year? How could your family have turned around? You can't escape nor resist that fate, Draco." Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Thanks heaps for reminding me," he said sarcastically. "I hate that. Why would I be working for THAT creepy old loon? The only thing he's done is turn my father into a stark raving crazy old buffoon who'll beat you up good if you didn't follow his orders right." Fira looked at him with pity. Even Harry thought that glassy look in Malfoy's eyes were genuine. "Don't worry," Fira said in a small, quiet voice to Malfoy. "I know just how you feel." Malfoy looked at her, clearly confused. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Instead of answering, Fira looked down at her wristwatch. "Looks like we'll be arriving soon," she said. She took off her wristwatch and did something so unbelievable it's only credible in a fan fiction like this: She threw the GOLD-PLATED, DIAMOND ENCRUSTED wristwatch out the window. "What did you do that for?" Harry said. "That was an incredibly good watch!" Fira smiled smugly at him. "You'll see," she said. She pointed her wand ("14 inches, silver, oak wood, unicorn hair…it's an Ollivander original…")out the window and muttered a few carefully chosen words. She then sat back down. About 5 seconds later, a beautiful bird came soaring in through the window and perched on Fira's shoulder. "Wow!" Harry and Malfoy said at the same time. "Fira," Hermione said, "don't mind my asking, but is that a HAWK?" "A dragon-hawk, to be exact," Fira answered. "This is Crossbow. I had to Transfigure him into a wristwatch so that the Muggles around me wouldn't get suspicious. And if you're going to say something about some Hogwarts rules on students' pets, my father's cousin's already written to Dumbledore about Crossbow, so he let me keep him. I've had him since I started at Beauxbatons. Besides, I'm not supposed to know about Hogwarts' School rules, am I?" "Wait a minute," Ron said all of a sudden. "My brother works with dragons in Romania. Some of them have dragon-hawks for pets. He said dragon-hawks never mingle or interact with any other creature in this world except for dragons! How on EARTH did you get him to follow you?" Before Fira could say anything (not that she wanted to answer his question anyway) the Hogwarts Express stopped. Fira, with Crossbow gliding by her side, exited the compartment in a hurry, without so much as a goodbye.
A Harry Potter Fanfic
By Anarathrien Black
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. Too bad. I don't own any of the characters here except for Fira and Crossbow. Same disclaimer goes to all the other chapters…
Chapter 1: Fira
It all started on the first day of terms. Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger met on Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station. They would be starting their 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When they met there, they started sharing about their summer. Harry had, as he had been having so since Sirius Black came back, enjoyed his summer. The Dursleys had made sure that Harry was happy and well, in fear that his godfather, who was a convicted murderer, might come to them if he caught wind of any bad news from Harry. Harry, in turn, had still done his fill of the chores so that it wouldn't be obvious that he was enjoying his summer too much. Hermione had spent her summer in France, and for Ron, the summer had signaled the start of renovation on the Burrow.
"Your house is being renovated, Weasley?" came a cold voice. It was Draco Malfoy. He had overheard the 3 talking. "Are you sure that's wise? If I had only known this during the summer, I'd be quite surprised you've still got the means to get supplies and go to school at all!" Ron gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Damn you, Dragon-boy," he said. His ears were turning as red as his hair, and Harry and Hermione knew that that was not a good sign. "Oh, don't worry, Weasel," Malfoy drawled on, "I'm sure that by the time your house, if you can call it that, is done, your parents'll have a job ready for you, coz you won't have enough to put you and your scrawny little hydramoeba of a sister through school!" Harry grabbed the back of Ron's cloak to stop him from attacking Malfoy, whose Prefect pin glistened in the sun as he laughed out loud. "Leave-him-alone- Ron," Harry said as he struggled to keep Ron at bay. "Whassamatter, Potter?" Malfoy said. "Afraid poow wittow Weaswey might bweak a wittow naiw?" Harry and Ron exchanged glances. "All right, let's get him," Harry said plainly and he and Ron launched themselves at Malfoy. Surprisingly, Hermione blocked their way. "HERMIONE!" Harry and Ron said in unison. "Are you 2 NUTS?" Hermione said. "As much as I don't like to admit it, he's a prefect! You don't attack prefects!" Ron wanted to say "Oh yes, we do!", but thought better of it and shut up instead. "That's right, Potty," Malfoy said, "I'm a prefect, and I can take as much points off Gryffindor for no reason at all as I want. You're lucky term hasn't officially started. That would have cost you 30 points each!" Laughing all the way, Malfoy left. "Of all the times to stop us, Hermione," Ron said. "I could be wringing his neck in my hands now, that bloody ferret!" "Yes," Hermione said, "and you would have gotten into trouble at Hogwarts for it as well." "She's got a point there, Ron," Harry said. Ron sighed heavily. "Well, prefect or not," Ron said, "I'm going to bash his head in someday, and you"- at this point, he turned to Hermione-"Won't be there to stop me." Hermione just shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said. "Right now, we should get on board. Forget about him, Ron. If you want to get back at him, let me catch him doing something stupid. I am Gryffindor prefect, after all." With that, Hermione entered the Hogwarts Express. Rolling his eyes, Ron followed Hermione, followed by Harry.
5 minutes into their journey, someone came up to their compartment. Harry gaped. There in the doorway stood a girl with a frame that should have been reserved for a cello. Her brown hair was cut in layers that came down to her shoulders. The Hogwarts Uniform hugged her body frame, which did wonders. But what mesmerized Harry, were her icy blue-green eyes. They seemed to be holding so much cheerfulness. "Sorry," the girl said. "D'you mind? Everywhere else is full." "Not at all," Hermione said, smiling and scooting over in her seat to make space for the girl. "Thanks," the girl said as she sat down beside Hermione. "I'm Fira, by the way. Fira Black." "Hello, Fira," Hermione said. "I'm Hermione Granger. That's Ron Weasley, and-" "Holy cricket!" Fira said when she spotted Harry. "You're Harry Potter!" "Uh, yes," Harry said, lost for words, "How did you recognize me?" "You're in the updated version of Hogwarts, A History," Fira explained. Ron and Harry exchanged a glance and then looked at Hermione. "So," Hermione said, ignoring the stares of Ron and Harry, "you're a transferee, I presume?" "Yes," Fira said, "starting my 6th year. I used to study at Beauxbatons, actually, but my father's cousin, who lives in Hogsmeade, wanted me to be closer to him, so I moved back to England from France." "What were you doing in France?" Ron asked. "Oh, well," Fira said, "I knew you'd ask. My French aunt and uncle were kind enough to take me in after a…relatively dangerous incident at Black Manor in Hogsmeade when I was 11. My father's cousin brought me over to France, but he keeps in touch." "What house do you think you'll be in?" Hermione asked. "Um," Fira said, "based on what I read in Hogwarts, A History, I expect to end up in Slytherin." "Slytherin?" Harry said. "But you're too nice to be in Slytherin. You ought to be in Gryffindor." Ron thought he caught Fira turning pink. "Thanks," she said.
Right at that moment, the box window behind Ron slid open. Draco Malfoy peered into their compartment. "Well, well," he said, "if it isn't the Dork Convention, come to Hogwarts." "Oh leave us alone, Malfoy," Hermione said. "Why, Mudblood?" Malfoy said. "Is my overwhelmingly handsome face too much for you to take?" At this, Harry and Ron started to gag and cough. Malfoy scowled at them. Then he turned to Fira. "Hello," he said, a sudden change in tone and mood noticeable. "I don't believe we've met." "We haven't…" Fira said uneasily. Malfoy disappeared for a moment and reappeared a few seconds later at the doorway of Harry's friends' compartment. He quickly (and rather violently) sat himself down beside Fira, as if he'd always been welcome in that compartment. He held out his hand to Fira. "I'm Malfoy," he said, smirking, "Draco Malfoy. And you are…" "Black," Fira said. "Fira Black." She gave her hand to Malfoy who, instead of shaking it, kissed it. Ron started to cough, Hermione bit her lip and Harry snorted. "Since when were you the courteous gentleman, Malfoy?" Harry said. "Don't mind them," Malfoy said to Fira, ignoring Harry's snide remark. "I couldn't help but overhear that you expect to be in Slytherin?" "Yes," Fira said. "You're a Malfoy, you said? Aren't you the son of Lucius Malfoy? The biggest supporter of You-Know-Who? Hell, isn't your father a Death Eater?" "Yes, well," Malfoy said, "We've turned around now." "Good for you," Fira said uninterested. Her eyes fell on the Slytherin badge on Malfoy's cloak. "Slytherin, huh?" she said, her face lighting up a bit. "Figures. All Malfoys got into Slytherin." "So…you know about my family?" Malfoy said, as if he were so interested at hearing how so like a nerd the new girl was. "Yes," Fira said, "After I read that Harry Potter was at Hogwarts, I had a bad feeling that Voldemort"-here Hermione, Ron and (would you believe) Malfoy cringed-"Was going to come so I read up on him looking for a way to protect myself. I learned about your family through that…Hey, aren't you supposed to be initiated as a Death Eater this year? How could your family have turned around? You can't escape nor resist that fate, Draco." Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Thanks heaps for reminding me," he said sarcastically. "I hate that. Why would I be working for THAT creepy old loon? The only thing he's done is turn my father into a stark raving crazy old buffoon who'll beat you up good if you didn't follow his orders right." Fira looked at him with pity. Even Harry thought that glassy look in Malfoy's eyes were genuine. "Don't worry," Fira said in a small, quiet voice to Malfoy. "I know just how you feel." Malfoy looked at her, clearly confused. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Instead of answering, Fira looked down at her wristwatch. "Looks like we'll be arriving soon," she said. She took off her wristwatch and did something so unbelievable it's only credible in a fan fiction like this: She threw the GOLD-PLATED, DIAMOND ENCRUSTED wristwatch out the window. "What did you do that for?" Harry said. "That was an incredibly good watch!" Fira smiled smugly at him. "You'll see," she said. She pointed her wand ("14 inches, silver, oak wood, unicorn hair…it's an Ollivander original…")out the window and muttered a few carefully chosen words. She then sat back down. About 5 seconds later, a beautiful bird came soaring in through the window and perched on Fira's shoulder. "Wow!" Harry and Malfoy said at the same time. "Fira," Hermione said, "don't mind my asking, but is that a HAWK?" "A dragon-hawk, to be exact," Fira answered. "This is Crossbow. I had to Transfigure him into a wristwatch so that the Muggles around me wouldn't get suspicious. And if you're going to say something about some Hogwarts rules on students' pets, my father's cousin's already written to Dumbledore about Crossbow, so he let me keep him. I've had him since I started at Beauxbatons. Besides, I'm not supposed to know about Hogwarts' School rules, am I?" "Wait a minute," Ron said all of a sudden. "My brother works with dragons in Romania. Some of them have dragon-hawks for pets. He said dragon-hawks never mingle or interact with any other creature in this world except for dragons! How on EARTH did you get him to follow you?" Before Fira could say anything (not that she wanted to answer his question anyway) the Hogwarts Express stopped. Fira, with Crossbow gliding by her side, exited the compartment in a hurry, without so much as a goodbye.